The Liturgy of the Hours

One of the topics I have covered a few times during the Coronavirus is prayer (see https://blog.renewaloffaith.org/blog/?cat=12 for those articles & homilies). Today I would like to cover a particular form of prayer required of clergy and religious but an option for all, the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office. We …

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23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Homily

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year AEzekiel 33:7-9Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (8)Romans 13:8-10Matthew 18:15-20September 6, 2020 Today we hear about how God calls us to respond to sin.  The first reading is sometimes known as the Parable of the Watchman.  A watchman was assigned as a lookout to watch for danger.  If he saw danger …

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Keeping Our Baptismal Promises

At Baptism, we are asked six questions as our “baptismal promises.” (When we are baptized as infants, our parents answer for us.) At Confirmation we renew our baptismal promises ourselves. Each year at Easter time, we renew them. We respond, “I do,” to each question. How much do we think about what we are saying …

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Receiving a Penance

After we have confessed our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we receive a “penance.” We are not just “given” or “assigned” a penance as punishment for our sins. We must receive the penance. By “receive” I mean we willing accept the penance as an admission of our sins and our desire to change. If …

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