SAINT AGNES CATHEDRAL 533 South Jefferson Springfield, MO 65806 EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS: Celebrant Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
October 16th, 2011 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Epistle: I Cor. 1:4-8
Gospel: Mt. 9:1-8
Mass schedule October 17th through October 21st
Monday-Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin-NO LATIN MASS
Tuesday-Saint Luke, Evangelist
Wednesday-Saint Peter of Alcantara, Confessor
Thursday-Saint John Cantius, Confessor
Friday-Feria
THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD-CAPE GIRARDEAU WILL HOLD ITS ANNUAL PRIEST INSTITUTE FROM OCTOBER 24TH THROUGH OCTOBER 28TH IN BRANSON, MO. THERE WILL BE NO LATIN MASS DURING THIS WEEK.
The Latin Mass Community Confirmation date is October 23rd, 2011 at 7:00pm in Saint Agnes Cathedral. His Excellency Bishop James V. Johnston will officiate.
There will be no pot-luck lunch this month. We will have a social event following Mass on October 23rd prior to the Confirmation ceremony.
Congratulations to Joshua Faust & his family. Josh received his first Holy Communion this past Sunday.
People believed that Jesus had supernatural powers because of the many miracles He performed on their behalf. However, Jesus was always concerned with the reality of forgiving one’s sins more than any physical cure He might perform.
Christ demanded that people have a lively faith in order to be cured. The people who bring Christ the paralytic in the Gospel are leading a sinner to God. This is what Christ desires. If we want to be close to Christ we must do the same.
The Jews believed that any illness was the result of personal sin. They accused Christ of blasphemy when He said to the paralytic “Your sins are forgiven.” If only God can forgive sins, they reasoned, this man is claiming to have power that belongs to God alone. Jesus cures the paralytic simply by uttering a word. He has the power to cure the effects of sin which is what the Jews believed disease to be. He thus also has the power to cure the cause of illness, or sin. Jesus therefore demonstrates that He has divine power.
Jesus Christ passed on to the Apostles and their successors in the priestly ministry the power to forgive sins. Priests exercise this power in the sacrament of Penance. Priests act in the person of Christ Himself as instruments of the Lord.
We should therefore always approach the sacrament of Penance with respect and gratitude. Christ forgives sins through His priests. The words of absolution are spoken by Christ through the priest. When the priest pronounces these words he speaks in the first person because he is so fully identified with Christ himself. The priest does not say “Christ absolves you…”, but rather “I absolve you from your sins…”
Let us take advantage of this great gift of God's mercy. Let us beg Him for true contrition for our sins.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
