Homilies

1st Sunday Advent (Fr. Smith homily)

| St. Charles Borromeo

It is commonplace to say that we judge the quality of our Sunday Worship by how we behave during the rest of the week. One of our parishioners summed this up with, “Don’t let Monday ruin your Sunday”. Today’s Gospel reading challenges us to take this seriously – indeed literally. 

First, let us look at why this is true, and then perform a little exercise. 

This is the first day of Advent, the beginning of the Church year. We will be reading from St. Matthew’s Gospel. We read St. Luke last year and he tutored us in history: how did the events of Jesus’ life fit together. I hope we all learned from him.  

St. Matthew is more practical. He will ask how do we build a Church. What is needed to allow a group of people to form a community?  Continue reading “1st Sunday Advent (Fr. Smith homily)” →

Homilies

1st Sunday of Advent – Living in the Light of the Lord Together

| St. Charles Borromeo

Light of the World, William Holman Hunt, 1851–1853, Manchester Art Gallery.

FIRST READING
Isaiah 2:1–5
December 1, 2019

Each Sunday this Advent, we will be reading from the Book of Isaiah. As we have seen previously, the Book of Isaiah was composed by three major authors over several centuries. “First Isaiah” is responsible for most of chapters 1–39 and lived in Judah during the eighth century BC. “Second Isaiah” wrote about the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after 540 BC and is credited with chapters 40–55. “Third Isaiah” wrote around 515 BC in Jerusalem and completed the book writing chapters 56-66. This book was not complied haphazardly: the three authors shared enough ideas and beliefs that it was reasonable that they shared a name. The readings that are chosen for Advent are profound and beautiful but in no way present a systematic review of Isaiah’s theology. The comparisons and connections however will be interesting. This week’s selection (Isaiah 2:1–5) has many parallels with next week’s (Is. 11:1–10). For ease and convenience, we will look at “why the Jews were chosen for the kingdom?” this week and examine “what will that kingdom look like?” next week.

The book of Isaiah opens with: Continue reading “1st Sunday of Advent – Living in the Light of the Lord Together” →

Messages from the Pastor

December 8 Collection for Religious Retirement Fund

| St. Charles Borromeo

Thank You Gathering for Sisters of St. Joseph, Oct. 2010

The priests who have served St. Charles in its almost 150 year history have been “diocesan” priests. That means that they were ordained to serve the people of the Diocese of Brooklyn. The bishop and people of the diocese have the responsibility of caring for us when we are sick or infirm. Your generosity in the “Generations of Faith Campaign,” 40% of which went to build up the trust funds for priests, was deeply moving to us all.

The sisters and brothers as well as priests from religious orders who were not ordained for the diocese were not covered in this campaign. As members of religious communities, they can come from anywhere and serve anywhere. A national solution was needed to help them. This is the origin and meaning of the collection for retired religious which will be taken up next week in every parish in the country. It is, to me, the most important collection of the year and will be taken up next week, Dec 8th.

The religious women, who did so much to form me and my sense of vocation, and the religious men, who I met later in life worked incredibly long hours for little payment. If there were any plans for retirement at all, it would have been based on new members filling the ranks. As we know the numbers have declined and they now need our help.

Although this collection is national and it may seem to bring in considerable money, it really does not even touch the surface of the problem. Orders have had to sell off property and join together to save money. This collection is helpful financially but, as my “religious” friends tell me, it is usually the largest special collection and they take that as a sign of support and love.

Let be so generous that they will all know our love for them and gratitude to them. You can give online at https://stcharlesbklyn.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities/ReligiousRetirementFund or at the collection taken up at Mass next Sunday, December 8.

In Christ,
Fr. Bill

PS – A letter – hand written the way they taught so many of us – means more than anything else. If you know the address of a religious who taught or inspired you: WRITE HIM OR HER NOW!

Bulletin

Using the new Hymnal Missal

| St. Charles Borromeo

In November, we introduced our new Hymnal Missal, Gather Third Edition. In addition to having the updated Order of Mass texts, it provides a much expanded selection of music, as well as prayers for other occasions. Let us look at the new features of Gather Third Edition:

  1. The inside front cover includes a sponsor dedication. We will regularly ask parishioners to pray for those so honored at the Prayer of the Faithful.
  2.  The inside cover page (both sides of the front end paper) includes the main prayer texts for Mass, similar to what is included on the laminated pew reference cards.
  3. The book does not have page numbers. The sections, set of readings, psalms and hymns are individually and sequentially numbered. There may be more than one section per page, or a section may go over several pages.
  4. There are tabs on the right side of the pages that indicate different sections in the book.
  5. The Hymns board (on the front left column near the Mary side of the sanctuary) display the numbers of the sections that will be used that day. The first number is the section for the Readings of the Day; the following numbers are the hymns that will be used throughout the Mass.
  6. The general Order of Mass starts at section 166. This is the text that is used each Sunday and at other celebrations of Mass. If you are unfamiliar with Catholic Mass, start at this section to follow along with the service.
  7. At the part in the Order of Mass for the Liturgy of the Word (172), refer to the Readings of the Day, which start at section 990 for Advent. The first number on the Hymn board will be the section for the Readings of the Day.
  8. On Sundays, we read all of the Bible readings through a three-year cycle, labeled Cycle A, Cycle B, and Cycle C.  December 2019 begins Liturgical Cycle A; the readings for the First Week of Advent / Cycle A are at 991. These are the parts that change daily. For Masses and services that are not held on Sunday, readings for those days start at 1194.
  9. The music for the Alleluia (before the Gospel) is at 173.
  10. After the homily (sermon), return to 174 in the Order of Mass to continue.

If you have any questions or have any suggestions for improving these instructions, don’t hesitate to ask!