Author: Msgr. Charles Pope

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Sermon for Corpus Christi – Jesus is a Rock in a Weary Land

If I can be bold and post an mp3 version of my own sermon. The title of the message is “Jesus is a Rock in a Weary Land” In the sermon is pondered that Jesus feeds us with his actual Body and Blood and is food for our journey across the desert of this world unto the promised land of heaven. In the Old Testament God fed the Israelites in the desert with manna and water from the rock (and the Rock was Christ – 1 Cor 10). Now as then Jesus is our manna and our drink. And just like the Israelites survived on that and would never have made it to the Promised Land without, so do we survive on our Manna, Jesus the Bread of Life and our water from the rock (his Precious Blood). Here is the talk:

Jesus is a Rock in a Weary Land

Since I reference the old Spiritual Jesus is a Rock in the title, perhaps you would like to hear the song too.  Here it is:

All of my sermons and talks are available at frpope.com or through iTunes.

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What Happened to the Church in Europe?

Here’s another Fr. Barron Video where he ponders the awful decline of the Church particularly in Europe. Does this merely mean that the Church has failed? Or is there more at work? Surely there are things we have done things that need correcting, but even when we do everthing we ought to do, there will still be a waxing and waning. Let me get out of the way and Let Fr. Barron speak.

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A Rather Shocking Eucharistic Procession

The Diocese in Linz, (northern  Austria) is infamous for liturgical strangeness. In a land of some of the world’s most beautiful rococo Churches liturgy has gone unhinged. If something is crazy, ugly or just plain illicit it is on display is this diocese. The latest sadness comes with a Eucharistic Procession held through the streets. Rather than use a traditional monstrance (see photo to the right) this particular parish nailed a rather large pita like lost to a stick and carried it through the streets; strange, ugly and unnecessarily provocative.  Well, look for yourself.

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Church History for your Ipod

wittOn my last vacation (back in February) I listen to the first ten episodes of a Church History Series by Fr. Michael Witt Assoc. Professor of Church History at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. The whole series has over 40 hours of listening where he systematically goes through Church History in a very conversational manner. The talks are entertaining and memorable and given by a priest who clearly loves the Church. They can found here:

Early Church History by Fr. Michael Witt

To get to the talks click on the upper left square. The talks are then listed on the left hand side of the screen and if you click on the talk  you are given the the notes and the audio begins. You can right click on the sound horn and select the option “Save Link as” to download the talk to your computer. The talks are in mp3 format.

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Interview with Ron Howard

The following video is an interview with Ron Howard by Stephen Colbert. Of course Colbert is a comedian so don’t take any of this too seriously. But what I find most interesting is how uncomfortable Ron Howard seems to be. Most guests on Colbert’s show seem to know that he is playing a role of sorts as an obnoxious and egotistical medialogue. It’s his shtick. Most of the guests know this going in and play along quite well. Howard though, seems unprepared for it or ill at ease. I wonder why? I also find Howard poorly spoken. I had been led to believe by others in the general media that he is some sort of “genius” but here he seem not to know much about what he is speaking. Even when he talks about his own movie it seems more to be memorized talking points that he recites rather than a real discussion. Even Colbert has a hard time trying to get him too lighten up. See what you think.

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Ron Howard
www.colbertnation.com
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