Friday, 20 July 2007
FSSP sermon series
Another great replacement for the car radio on long journeys - the Catholic Sermons Series 2007 from the priests of the Fraternity of St Peter serving the St. Philippine Duchesne Latin Mass Community. The list includes some meaty talks on the four last things during a mission given by Fr Issac Relyea of "Keep the Faith". All downloadable as mp3 files.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
19 comments:
Oh, Father!! This is wonderful; thank you!
And I see they have an RSS feed which is always helpful. :)
This mp3 is definitely NOT recommended for car journeys (© Fr Seraphim Besomer):
www.isidorescorner.com/
workout.mp3
Thanks Father.
bad anonymous bad bad bad.
These sermons are too American for a British audience, most of their local references are meaningless here, and sometimes their tone, whether emollient or condemnatory, is off-putting. Best left in the States.
These American sermons, especially when they demand a servile respect for the priesthood, should be seen against the recent background of the $660m award to victims of clerical abuse in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Vast sums in compensation have been paid by other American dioceses, to the point of bankruptcy. Some of these sermons completely lack humility and barely recognize the priest's vocation to serve. The tragedy is that these disgraced priests have permanently damaged the role of the priest and removed the respect due to him and his office. But Jesus Himself was frequently insulted during His public ministry as well as in the Passion and if a priest is truly an alter Christus this should be his lot as much as it was in the life of Him whom he represents. The difference is that while many priests are guilty of grave sin, Christ was innocent.
The link to the sermons was passed on by a young university student who enjoyed them very much.
I haven't listened to them yet myself but will do in order to see whether there is a basis for your charge that they are filled with pride and do not recognise the priest's vocation to serve.
I can understand US Catholics being very angry indeed over their money having to be used to compensate victims of clerical abusers. The data collected by the Bishops' Conference and the 2006 John Jay report are important in this connection. Gerald Augustinus has collected some in a post The nature of abuse by clergy.
Anonymous - I can tell you that the salvation of souls is not limited to the United States. Do listen to the Lenten Mission 2007 on Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell to see how deprived we are of good preaching in these isles (with the exception of priests like Fr. Tim and others).
It was the mission sermon on hell that I found most annoying. Not because of what it said about that unhappy place but because of the strident tone of the preacher and the exaggerated exaltation of the priestly office. Doubtless Fr Finegan will leap to his defence, but I cannot help wondering what would have been going on in the heads of the congregation in the light of recent clerical scandals in the United States. The laity are no all fools.
I just thought I'd post a response to the anonymous posters who felt these sermons were "too American" and that some "completely lack humility".
I personally know all of the priests that gave those sermons and I can tell you that they are extremely humble and holy priests! I only wish more priests would follow their good example!
As for being "too American" -- I did not realize the British were so advanced in their holiness that they would not be enlightened by any of these seroms. May God Bless America the way He has (apprently) blessed you!
Isn't it ironic that anytime there are GOOD Catholic priests out there, the devil tries to dissuade people from listening to them??
Anon - when I have a chance to listen to the sermons, I may well leap to their defence. In the meantime, the laity (like Doogie) are likely to do quite a good job of that themselves.
It seems to me that the obvious relevance of sermons on hell to clerical child abusers is that the latter are in danger of going there, according to the plain teaching of Christ, if they don't seriously repent.
Doogie - I only wish we were more American over here. You know - 50% of the population going to Church on Sunday, pop stars and politicians getting support by at least pretending to be religious instead of ritually slagging off the Church, that sort of thing.
Thanks for the lead, Father!
Now, if only we could get them to offer podcasts
I've only had time to listen to the 'Hell' sermon so far, but it is difficult to understand what Anonymous's objection is. Admittedly, I'm bilingual (US/UK English), but I didn't notice undue references that would make sense only on that side of the pond.
What was very impressive was the high content of references to the Fathers and the Saints; these should be accessible by any Catholic, regardless of nationality. It is a long time since I have heard such a well-researched sermon.
I don't understand the objection to the insistence on reverence for the priesthood. Fr Isaac was very insistent that this is not related to the personal holiness of the individual; rather, the reverence is due to the office. To argue that reverence is not due to priests because of the sins of some (or many) is, in my opinion, Donatism; the efficacy of the sacraments is not dependent on the personal holiness of the celebrant. If St. Francis held that the lowliest of priests is above the angels, that's good enough for me.
As to the accusation of arrogance, I can only assume that Anonymous did not listen to the end of the sermon, and must have missed the part about the fate priests who celebrate Holy Mass in a state of mortal sin. A case of 'to those to whom much has been given, much will be asked'.
The website also have talks from 2003 onwards at the bottom, along with a Podcast/RSS feed.
Pattif,
I can assure you that the majority of the sermons contain quotes and references to the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, as well as the Saints.
As I mentioned in my previous comment, these are very holy priests -- not just in sermon only, but in action also. They not only teach the Faith, but LIVE it as well.
As for those priests who neither teach nor live the Faith -- we must pray very hard for them! The devil works hard to corrupt them and, being weak humans, they especially need our prayers!
But, even a "bad" priest, is STILL a priest and deserves respect because he is consecrated to God.
(Remember: Our Lord obeys even "bad" priests with regard to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!)
Fr. Finigan,
Holiness and sanctity is something everyone should be striving for -- no matter where they are geographically (but you already knew that! :) )
As for those "pretending to be religious" -- maybe we should all look up Luke 18:9-14 in the Haydock(gotta love that commentary!) as a refresher...
God Bless you! :)
Diane,
There is a podcast link at the bottom of Sermons Series page. It is: http://www.audiosancto.com/rss.php.
Cheers!
These sermons are amazing! I wish the FSSP was allowed to say the Mass in the Archdiocese of Boston. Maybe I'll burn a few of these to disk and send them to Cardinal Sean. Their teaching is spot on (to borrow a British phrase).
With the exception of a few of the more recent sermons posted, I have listened to every one of these. I have met the priests in person, though I live to far away to attend their Mass more than a few times a year. I was delighted to find their sermons online - we've been getting them on CD in the mail, so we're always several sermons behind.
To the anon posters, I would say that the influence of these sermons have literally been life changing for myself and my family. That being said, when we first started listening to them they scared me terribly, because if I listened to them, and took them to heart, I would have to change. I would have to leave my comfort zone, and start admitting that a lot of the things I was rationalizing as OK were actually very serious sin.
The reactions you've had and have posted about here remind me of my own reactions. Change is often painful and frightening...don't fear, have faith. Open your heart and your mind and realize that hostile reactions may be fear of change.
God bless.
As for the local references, I would guess y'all are referring to a few references here and there to certain politicians who claim to have reconciled their pro-death views with their Catholic upbringing. Or maybe it's all the stuff about sheep? I thought there will still a few sheep left in the British Isles, eh?
As for the "disgraced priests," committing crimes....well, it sure as heck aint THESE priests. If these guys main were ever touch another person's private parts, it would be to take a castrating knife on the "disgraced priests" you refer to. These guys aren't the problem to the American scandal; they're the solution.
I too know these wonderful priests and have been priviliged to be a member of their congregation. Believe me when I say these priests really pour themselves out for their flock. They really exemplfy service. Father W is a plain spoken person but is very humble and has a gift for reaching souls. I believe he will someday be canonized. He is also highly intelligent.
Post a Comment