St. Joseph Catholic Church - Toledo, OH

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Homily Preparation Notes

From Evangelium Vitae of Blessed Pope John Paul II

-THE GOSPEL OF LIFE is at the heart of Jesus' message.

-At the dawn of salvation, it is the Birth of a Child which is proclaimed as joyful news: "I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is. Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:10- 11).

Vocation Awareness Letter 2012.pdf

Father's letter regarding National Vocations Awareness Week, inserted in the January 15, 2011 bulletin.

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Homily Preparation Notes

From Magnificat Companion to the Roman Missal

-“Behold the Lamb of God”: “The prayer echoes the ringing words of the Baptist (John 1:29) and also the words of Pontius Pilate as he presented Jesus to the people, scorched and crowned with thorns: “Behold, the man!” (John 19:5). The repeated call to behold the Lamb of God is more than a declaration that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus. It is a call to contemplate the mystery, to gaze upon it, to behold with gratitude what God has done for us. Confronted with incomparable beauty, we recognize its distance from us, but we cross that very distance in the act of beholding, which is an act of love.”

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Homily Preparation Notes

From Reading Nicholas Gihr

-- Introduced by a passage from Psalm 123: Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini: qui fecit coelum et terram.... to remind us that we have to focus on the power and goodness of God as we confess our sins, realizing our weakness and unworthiness... realizing that he alone can relieve our misery and remit our sins and punishment due to them...

-- Psalm 129:7 "because with the Lord there is mercy and with him plentiful redemption"

-- with these words the priest makes a sign of the cross, indicating that the grace comes from the cross

-- Psalm 23:3-4 "only the person who is innocent in hands and clean of heart may ascend into the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place"... so we seek forgiveness before we climb the mountain of the altar of Calvary

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Homily Preparation Notes

From the Magnificat Roman Missal Companion

–“And with your spirit”: a prayer dating back to the earliest years of the church… that the Lord may uphold the priest, so that the priest, human though he be, may serve the congregation in his priestly capacity as an embodiment of Jesus… wedded to his bride, the church. St. Paul often uses the word ' spirit' to refer to the core of a person's emotional being, what we might call the heart… the congregation is asking that the Lord will shower his gifts upon the spirit of the priest, so that he can help in the building of the body…

–“It is right and just”: The translation is brief, as in the Latin. First we affirm that it is right or worthy to thank God… then we affirm it is also just. Example of being sick, and it is right to beg for healing from God, since it is correct to knowledge his power… and it is virtuous to trust in him. Our things is also just: it is owed.

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From Reading Magnificat Roman Missal Companion

-Latin is abrupt and powerful… referring to the miracle that has just taken place… not referring to the refrain that people are going to say next

-the miracle of love that has taken place fulfills Jesus promise after the resurrection: “Behold, I am with you always, unto the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

-“We proclaim your death, o Lord, and profess your Resurrection unto you come again”: the sacrament is not a mere pious memorial. Our actions profess the death and resurrection of Christ, as we rejoice at the body once broken has been raised again

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Homily Preparation Notes

From Reading Nicholas Gihr

-the Second Council of Vaison (529) renewed ordinance that the Sanctus be sung at all Masses.

-two parts: first the glorification of the Holy Trinity are the angels of heaven… the second the welcoming of the Savior by the mouth of the faithful on earth

-Innocent III: Vox angelorum Trinitatis et unitatis in Deo commendat arcanum; vox hominum divinitatis et humanitatis in Christo personat sacramentum.