Father Ernie's Blog

Our Lady Of Mount Carmel
Roman Catholic Church
39 East 22nd Street, Bayonne, New Jersey 07002-3753

201- 339-2070

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Ad majorem Dei gloriam

November 21, 2008
Thank you for visiting my page. I plan on posting here from time to time with some thoughts and comments that I would like to share. Please check back often and feel free to email me at FatherErnie@OLMCParish.com if something is on your mind. God Bless.

November 25, 2008

Today is the memorial of Catherine of Alexandria virgin and martyr. As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday we are reminded of the many things we need to give thanks for, first being the gift of life. Catherine as well as many of the saints and martyr always remind us of this. As we read about them we find that just like us their lives were not lives of leisure and pleasure many of them had lives of great suffering. Yet in the midst of this suffering they always found the ability to give thanks for the life they had. In these hard times we turn to them for courage and strength to help us also as we face difficult times. May we give thanks for our freedom. our families and loved ones, and may we pray to for who are less fortunate then us. Maybe we might even think about reaching out to them and offering some hope in a situation that seems hopeless to them.

November 30, 2008

Advent begins today and has two themes, no not Christmas time (or season) like many would believe, this is only so because the secular world has made it so. This Holy season has become Christmas time because of secular influence and thus has become more commercialized than religious. In actuality Advent is a Holy Season of anticipation and preparation. Certainly we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ (Christmas) and enter into the Christmas Time (or season), but in a more profound and religious sense it is a time of anticipation and preparation for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, yes the second coming. Our readings today remind us of this as the Gospel tells us to be awake and alert. This time of waiting and anticipation has been in the Church's tradition since apostolic times. So hence Advent has that dual theme, a sense of the coming of the Christ child and the anticipation and preparation for that second coming of Christ. May you enjoy a holy and blessed season of advent, and may Christ find us alert and awake at his coming. Come, Emmanuel, Come

June, 2009

It certainly has been a while since I have posted here, but since The Great Feast of Corpus Christi is this weekend June 14th. I felt the urged to post something about the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. This celebration is traditionally celebrated on the Thursday following the Sunday celebrating The Feast of the Holy Trinity or Trinity Sunday, and in some parts still is. But in countries where it is not a Holy Day of Obligation it is celebrated on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday. This Day is a public holiday in many traditionally Catholic countries. The Feast had its beginnings in 1246 when an Augustinian nun petitioned the Archdeacon of Liege (who would become Pope Urban IV) and the Bishop of Liege, so the Bishop convened a synod and ordered the celebration to held each year. It was Pope Urban IV who ordered the feast to be celebrated throughout the latin rite in his papal bull Transiturus in 1264 after investigating a Eucharistic miracle in Bolsena. This feast was established to focus solely on the Eucharist since the Church already has other celebrations connecting the Eucharist with other things, i.e., priesthood, institution of the Eucharist, etc. This Feast concentrates on the Eucharistic presence. Thomas Aquinas composed the liturgy for this feast which included some of the greatest hymns of the church, Pange Lingua, Tantum Ergo, O Salutaris Hostia. Thomas also composed the propers of the Mass for this celebration. Interestingly prior to the reforms of vatican II, there existed two separate feasts one for the Body of Christ and another for the Blood of Christ. These two remain in the liturgical calendar of the extraordinary form of the Latin Rite which is once again allowed through the graciousness of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVII. Sadly one of the traditions that have been lost in many of the american catholic churches is the Corpus Christi procession. There is hope though, many churches are beginning to bring this custom Back. Let us pray that more catholics desire this and premote its use more and more. Christ truly present in the Eucharist, body, soul, and divinity is the greatest gift he has given us. Each time the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered Christ comes to us and fulfills his promise to be with us Always, He nourishes us and feeds us so that we may continue our earthly pilgrimage until we enter into the heavenly banquet. May the Eucharist give us the strength and courage that we need to over come the worlds temptations and faithfully and proudly profess our faith in Christ.