SATURDAY HOMILY: Jesus, rid us of the filth of sin!

2/3/2013

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they were not warned.

Father Gerald Fitzgerald, the founder of the Paraclete Fathers, repeatedly sounded the warning about priests who violate the innocence of children. In the starkest of terms he wrote in 1957:

"These men, Your Excellency, are devils and the wrath of God is upon them and if I were a bishop I would tremble when I failed to report them to Rome for involuntary laicization."

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord when we commemorate that moment when the Immaculate Ever-Virgin Mary, accompanied by her most chaste spouse, St. Joseph, brought the sinless Son of God to the temple to present Him to the Lord.

Pope Benedict XVI explains in his new book on the infancy narratives that the word that is used for "present" in the Gospel account of the Presentation is parastanai which also means to offer in the way that sacrifices in the temple were offered.

Our Lady, fully cooperating with God's plan of salvation, hands over to the Father the spotless victim who on Calvary, with the shedding of His own blood, expiates the sins of the whole world.

Jesus is our only hope. He alone can rid us of the filth of sin.

The new English translation of the Roman Missal renders the Collect of today's Mass thus:

"Almighty ever-living God, we humbly implore your majesty that, just as your Only Begotten Son was presented on this day in the Temple in the substance of our flesh, so, by your grace, we may be presented to you with minds made pure."

Today is a good day to pray for the Church -- for all her members: bishops, priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful -- that our minds will be made pure. "Rid me, Jesus, of that filthy crust of sensual corruption which covers my heart, so that I can feel and readily follow the touches of the Paraclete on my soul." (The Way, 130)

May Our Lady, Mary most pure, and St. Joseph, intercede for is.

Father G. Peter Irving III is a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and is Pastor of Holy Innocents Church, Long Beach.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: daily homilies, year of faith, homily, homilies, Fr. G. Peter Irving, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, clergy sex abuse scandal, Archbishop Jose Gomez, Cardinal Mahony

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1 - 2 of 2 Comments

Mary
3 months ago
Thank you, Father Peter. Yes, pray! Also do penance! "Claim me once more as Your Own, O Lord, and have mercy on me. Heal my soul for I have sinned against You. Have mercy on me."
abey
3 months ago
"Just as He is so are we in this world", which is the Church to be the light in the world(darkness). But when the Church goes the way of the world in this case the country, which country is founded on occultic roots but having Christian names to the Prophecy of Jeremiah, for the time has come to the words of Jesus 'you serve either Mammon or God " & it is clearer by the day that the land by its Leaders & Prophets( through its multitudinal false preachers) have chosen Mammon again to the prophecy, so let not the Catholic Church imitate the country to its ways go the way of Babylon. Testing times.

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