Events, Videos

Community Mass – Corpus Christi

| St. Charles Borromeo

On Sunday, June 19, 2022, join us in person or online for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

Our current Sunday Mass times are:

The readings will be from Cycle C.

Entrance: Gather Your People – 837

Readings/Psalm – 1091

Offertory:  Let Us Be Bread – 946

Communion: I Am the Bread of Life – 945

Closing: Lift Every Voice and Sing

The Gather 3rd Edition Hymnal/Missals are available for use in the church – pick one up as you enter and return it after Mass. Instructions on how to use the hymnal missal are available here: https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/hymnal-missal/ .

Today’s readings are also available to read online at the USCCB website https://bible.usccb.org .

Scriptual Commentary

Corpus Christi – Acting Like Jesus Every Day

| Fr. William Smith

The  Last Supper, Fritz von Uhde,
1886, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
(About this Image)

In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
(1 Corinthians 11:25)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Corpus Christi
1 Cor 11:23–26
June 19, 2022

This week, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus. Our second reading is from the 1st letter of St Paul to the Corinthians. We read this letter earlier this year and a general overview can be found in the commentary for January 16, 2022.

This section is especially important for our time but not perhaps for the reasons we may think.

We will first examine the kind of gathering that forms the basis of this meal, then how Jesus changed it and finally how it was abused. We can then see the power and eternal value of Paul’s message.

Continue reading “Corpus Christi – Acting Like Jesus Every Day” →

Homilies

Most Holy Trinity – Homily (Fr. Smith)

| Fr. William Smith

Some of the most satisfying experiences of my life have been in community organizing but I must admit that I was never a first-rate organizer.  Nonetheless I was invited to meetings for which, by most measures, I was not qualified to attend. I eventually realized that it was because I had some grounding in Catholic Social Teaching and it was thought important to have it represented, I agree and discovered that what we as Catholics have to offer is that our teachings are based on our understanding of the Trinity. The Trinity affects every aspect of our view of society, but we will only look at two: where do human rights come from and how should they be implemented? But first let us look at why we need to start with Trinity. 

The Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity tells us that all we know of God is that he exists in relationship and that those relationships are sustained by love. “To be” and “to love” are the same. (#1, see below) The Church asks us to look at our own lives, are we not formed by who we love, by our own relationships? The Catholic insight is that because of the Trinity this is not a primarily psychological or sociological insight but a theological and metaphysical one. The universe reflects its creator, and its central reality is that we exist as humans because we can form loving relationships. (#2, see below) 

Continue reading “Most Holy Trinity – Homily (Fr. Smith)” →

Events, Videos

Community Mass – Trinity Sunday

| St. Charles Borromeo

On Sunday, June 12, 2022, join us in person or online for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.

Our current Sunday Mass times are:

The readings will be from Cycle C.

Entrance: Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! – 567

Readings/Psalm – 1088

Offertory:  Eye Has Not Seen – 728

Communion: How Great Thou Art – 578

Closing: O God, Almighty Father – 566

The Gather 3rd Edition Hymnal/Missals are available for use in the church – pick one up as you enter and return it after Mass. Instructions on how to use the hymnal missal are available here: https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/hymnal-missal/ .

Today’s readings are also available to read online at the USCCB website https://bible.usccb.org .

Scriptual Commentary

Holy Trinity Sunday – Ministry of Service

| Fr. William Smith

The Trinity, Andrei Rublev
1411 or 1425–27, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
(About this Image)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Most Holy Trinity
Romans 5:1–5
June 12, 2022

This week, we celebrate the solemnity of the Blessed Trinity, and the church has chosen a selection from the letter of Paul to the Romans as our second reading. We looked at Romans in some detail two years ago and will not review the background again for this passage. (You may find the earlier commentary at Introduction to the Letter to the Romans.) Paul’s style may be somewhat convoluted for our taste, but this passage is well worth following to a most satisfactory indeed inspiring conclusion.

Besides decidedly Pauline themes, we will find some areas of connection with the Gospel readings from St. John of last few weeks. We begin with “Therefore” and can be relatively certain that a conclusion follows. In this case, Paul has developed the concept of justification for four chapters and in chapter five, which we read today, he will tell us the benefits of being justified. Briefly and superficially justified means that a person has a relationship with God. The Greek word from which it derives, dikaiosunē, means righteousness. We are made righteous by the death and resurrection of Jesus. For Catholics, this is a process that requires being led by the Spirit and thus is a this worldly and in that sense very practical experience.

Continue reading “Holy Trinity Sunday – Ministry of Service” →