St. Joseph Catholic Church - Toledo, OH

Homily Notes

From Reading Jean Corbon's Wellspring of Worship

-- A connection with the divine fire in the bush before Moses: the fire does not destroy the bush (similarity)... but the fire in the bush are not one in the same, whereas the flesh of the divine Son is actually permanently divinized, on fire

-- St. Serapion: The Virgin conceived, formed, and gave birth to this "body of the Word".

-- St. Gregory of Nyssa: Those who draw near to him touch his body, but "his flesh is divine"; those who look upon him see a mortal man like themselves, but his face is "the face of life".

-- the context of this event, which really is a summit event in the Gospels: the lead apostle Peter has correctly acknowledged the divine sonship of Jesus... and from that point on Jesus starts telling them about his imminent death on Calvary. There is a merciful confirmation of his divine identity, given for the sake of the apostles before the horrific event of Calvary.

Luke 4:1-4/Matt 4:1-3 Homily Notes

From the Catena Aurea of Thomas Aquinas

-- St. Ambrose; He was led therefore into the wilderness, to the intent that He might provoke the devil, for if the one had not contended, the other it seems had not conquered. In a mystery, it was to deliver that Adam from exile who was cast out of Paradise into the wilderness. By way of example, it was to show us that the devil envies us, whenever we strive after better things; and that then we must use caution, lest the weakness of our minds should lose us the grace of the mystery. Hence it follows: And he was tempted of the devil.

-- St. Cyril; Behold, He is among the wrestlers, who as God awards the prizes. He is among the crowned, who crowns the heads of the saints.

-- St. Basil; Or, the Lord remained for forty days untempted, for the devil knew that He fasted, yet hungered not, and dared not therefore approach Him. Hence it follows: And he eat nothing in those days. He fasted indeed, to show that He who would gird Himself for struggles against temptation must be temperate and sober.

-- St. Ambrose; There are three things which united together conduce to the salvation of man; The Sacrament, The Wilderness, Fasting. No one who has not rightly contended receives a crown, but no one is admitted to the contest of virtue, except first being washed from the stains of all his sins, he is consecrated with the gift of heavenly grace.

Luke 6:17, 20-26 Homily Notes

--The Holy Spirit writes that Jesus is surrounded by a great crowd of disciples, but also by people from the surroundings of Judea and Jerusalem, as well as people as far as Tyre and Sidon... but very interestingly, he writes that Jesus lifts his eyes towards his disciples and says the "Beatitudes".

-- St. Ambrose: "But being about to utter his divine oracles, he begins to rise higher; although he stood in a low place, yet as it is said, he lifted up his eyes. What is lifting up the eyes, but to disclose a more hidden light?"

-- St. Bede: "And though he speaks in a general way to all, yet more especially he lifts up his eyes on his disciples; for it follows, on his disciples, that to those who receive the word listening attentively with the heart, he might reveal more fully the light of its deep meaning."

-- what do the Beatitudes address?: poverty, hunger, weeping, being hated... and then their opposites: being rich, consoled, filled now, spoken well of

Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19 Homily Notes

From Reading Cornelius Lapide

--Tradition sees in Jeremiah a type of Jesus Christ: 1) formed in the womb is Jesus was found in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit; 2) Jeremiah is made a prophet to the nations, just as it says of Jesus Christ in the Isaiah 51:16 "I have put my words in your mouth", etc.... or Isaiah 49:6 which says of Christ "behold I have given you as a light to the nations"

-- the "word" that happened to Jeremiah... a way of referring to all that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah for 41 years

-- "I knew you" means "I approved of you with an approbation by which I knew ahead of time and predestined you, form view, created you a man and a minister of my words".... Rom 11:2 "God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew."

--"I sanctified you"... sanctificavi te... dealt with your original sin even while you were in the womb, as with John the Baptist, so with Jeremiah... consecrated you for my work as a holy Prophet, separated you from things profane... "from all eternity I knew you, love you, predestined you to holiness and prophetic duty"... an infusion of sanctifying grace

As of January 3rd, 2009, our parish has revised its Policies for the Reception of First Sacraments (First Confession, First Communion, Confirmation). The primary change is families must be registered members of the parish in order to receive first Sacraments. Father's complete explanation and specifics around the timing and requirements of each Sacrament can be found in Father's First Sacraments Letter.

The letter references additional sacrament resources on the diocesan website. These are available at the following address: http://www.toledodiocese.org/content/view/730/207/