FRIDAY EVENING MASS HOMILY – FATHER ANGELUS  

Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father.  Other people need our good example. Give glory to our Heavenly Father. 
 
 What we do, how we do it, why we do it – why is the most important. Our motivation must be of faith.  We want to advance in perfect contrition. The purpose of spiritual life is to get to perfect contrition. Being sorry for our sins because of punishment is imperfect contrition. Being sorry for our sins because they offend God is perfect contrition. 

 Father discussed plenary indulgences, how to obtain them, and under what conditions we can obtain them. There are four different occasions for gaining a plenary indulgence: 1) praying the rosary with a group of people; 2) reading Scripture thirty minutes a day; 3) doing the Way of the Cross; and 4) praying before the Blessed Sacrament for at least one half hour.  You can obtain a plenary indulgence once a day for yourself or for the Poor Souls in Purgatory.

 The necessary conditions for receiving plenary indulgences are: 1) you have to be in a state of grace – no serious sin on your soul; 2) confession within 8 days before or after; 3) receive Holy Communion; 4) prayers for the Holy Father; 5) no attachment to even venial sin. (Keep your focus on the crucified Jesus. Keep the cross of God in front of you.)    

SATURDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY – FATHER ROBERT FOX 

Father Fox spoke at first about angels. He said we should study angels, because it is astonishing to read about them. He said we are able to make a consecration to our Guardian Angel and to all the holy angels. We must pray the St. Michael Prayer. 

The Pope with all the Bishops of the world consecrated Russia and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984. Mary promised that, if you make the first five Saturdays in succession, you would die in the state of grace. Here are the things to do to make reparation on the first Saturday for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary: 1) go to confession (within eight days); 2) pray the rosary and meditate on the mysteries for fifteen minutes;  3) receive Holy Communion.

Every time one persons sins it hurts the whole mystical body of the Church. It hurts Mary because She is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.  In your heart it is supposed to be that you are offering this 
confession for first Saturday in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
 
SATURDAY MORNING INSTRUCTION – DEACON BILL  

We are called to serve the Lord day and night. How is our spirit of gratitude and thanks? How grateful are we for all He gives us? How grateful are we for this day? Mary Magdalene could not get the Lord out of her mind. Her desire was to find Jesus Christ. He gives us the greatest gift - Himself (the Eucharist). This gift is available to every sinner in the world. What desire do we have to find the Lord in all the gifts He gives us as well as all the disappointments in life? We have to have a burning desire to find Jesus.

What are we doing today? Some love Jesus only as much as to avoid hell. They do not want to be inconvenienced. They want all the pleasures this world has to offer. Venial sin goes counter to God. It does not destroy charity, but it is opposed to it. Habitual sin decreases the soul towards God. Little by little the soul loses its fervour. Some people do make a yearly confession as the Church says. When some people watch a movie or look at a magazine, the pictures stay with them, and they eventually fall into mortal sin. Venial sin can continue to grow if it is committed continually.  It can grow into mortal sin.  Can anything be "small" if it offends God?  Take care not to commit a deliberate venial sin even if it is small. Sin can cause great harm to the soul. We seek to be spiritually mature, but we fail and are not yet there. If the soul is sincere and humble after the fall, we must begin to distrust ourselves so that we can put our trust totally in God. We should never trust ourselves in any situation, because we are one step from venial sin. We must be on guard; we cannot pray enough to avoid venial sin.

An imperfection is the omission of some good act to which we are not obliged by any law to do but which charity inspires us to do, i.e., an inspiration to call someone or a visit to the nursing home. These would be good acts to do instead of watching television. Watching television would be selfishness if one has the inspiration to do a good act and watched television instead.  

HEALING SERVICE – FATHER SHANNON 

Why would God allow His Son to suffer on the Cross – His only begotten Son to receive punishment?  1) We do not see the effects of sin; we do not see blood. We do not see the cuts and bruises. Look at the scourged flesh of Christ and the bloody scene on the Cross. We need to see it in graphic details. Are we afraid to see it?  2) To show that the Father does love us beyond our imagining. How much are we worth to Him - the passion and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We should never ask the question "Does God love me?" We were loved even when we were His enemies, and that love was shown in the blood of His Son. His Son died for us. How unworthy we are of that love. We were unlovable, but He loves us despite that. 

SUNDAY MORNING MASS HOMILY - FATHER ANGELUS 

Bread is becoming very popular these days.  Jesus calls Himself the "bread of life". He does not wish the death of a sinner, but that he be saved. Faith is the gift we receive in Baptism. Faith is always the gift while we are living on earth. Faith also is a choice at the age of reason. When we pray we choose to believe.  What is my contribution to faith? At work it is to behave, to be obedient, to cultivate the humble heart. What is the contribution of Jesus that He is creditable? His most unique act in all His life is His resurrection from the dead. There is no more dying for Him. We pray and thank God for Him. 

How do so many people lose their faith? People's children and their children have given the faith away and kissed the Lord good-bye. Many are not grateful enough for this great gift. Some are really engrossed in paying the bills and extra curricular activities instead of coming to Mass. 
  
Jesus said without Him you can do nothing. With God all things are possible. The moral code of Jesus Christ is really tough. The issue of forgiveness before we go into eternal life – no one meets our expectations. Until you forgive, you will not be forgiven.

Jesus said that what you have done to the least of His brethren, you do to Him. Pray always, Jesus said, and unless we do pray always, we may fall on our face. He is the way, the truth and the life. We do not need anyone else but Jesus Christ, the purpose for our existence in this world. In Chapter 6 of St. John there is a message. The message is "the bread that He will give …". When Jesus said that "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man…",  He lost at least one-third of His followers. Is it that the people who do not come to Church on Sunday cannot look at the clean altar cloth? Come back before it is too late!

He keeps His promises. He will be with us until the end of the world. He is the Head of the Church. He is also in people and all of the Sacraments. But the par excellence gift is the Blessed Sacrament, source and summit of the Christian life. Here we are the companions of our God. Stay with Him if you can after Mass. Thank Him. It is the most precious time in your entire day. He remains within you for about fifteen minutes in a normal healthy stomach. There is nothing that comes closer to our God than to receive Him in the Holy Eucharist, body, blood, soul, and divinity. Even Almighty God can give us no more than the Blessed Sacrament. Receive Him every chance you get as long as you are in the state of grace.