Guild of St. Peter ad Vincula

The Guild of St. Peter ad Vincula

A collection of sermons and reflections from the deanery

Et Reliqua

Check the Dean’s sermons and reflections from past Sundays and holydays.

The name Et Reliqua is taken from the Office of Matins, in which the commentary by the Church Fathers on the Gospel of the day is preceded by part of the Gospel itself.  Rather than read the Gospel in its entirety, only the first sentence is included, followed by the words, Et Reliqua, translated into English as “And so on and that which followeth.”

A stained glass window depicting jesus on the cross.
Seven Sorrows of BVM

Stabat Mater Dolorosa

Of all the dreadful moments that slowly passed during our Lord’s bitter Passion and Death on the Cross, we cannot over-emphasize the importance of his words to his Blessed Mother and beloved Apostle St. John:  “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he

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Nativity of BVM

What Went Ye Out For To See?

“What went ye out for to see?”  This is a question our Lord posed to the multitudes who thronged to see John the Baptist at the River Jordan.  “Did you come to see a prophet predicting the future or working wonders?”  Our Lord could have asked the same question to

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Nativity of BVM

Our Lady’s Message On Her Birthday

“Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.  Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.  Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.  For whoso findeth me findeth life,

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15th Sunday after Pentecost

In The Land Of Uz

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job.  Thus begins the Book of Job in the Old Testament, a book which forms the readings for the clergy in the Office of Matins for the first two weeks of September.  These readings give us the opportunity

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14th Sunday after Pentecost

Our Prayers In Practice

We’re all familiar with the four acts of prayer.  The very word ACTS is our reminder of what they are: A for Adoration, C for Confession, T for Thanksgiving, and S for Supplication.  We worship God, we confess and repent of our sins, we thank God for all he has

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13th Sunday after Pentecost

For Thy Great Glory

Ten lepers.  All ten cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  All ten are healed.  But then, only one returns to our Lord to say “Thank you.”  Today’s Gospel is about thanksgiving and our duty to give thanks to God.  It is a real responsibility that we must keep

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Assumption

Comforter Of The Afflicted

There’s something very comfortable about this feast of Our Lady’s Assumption into heaven.  Maybe it’s the time of year—the days are starting to shorten and cool down, it’s harvest time, the children are back at their studies, and we’re reminded of the eternal round of the annual calendar.  The ancient

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12th Sunday after Pentecost

Go, And Do Thou Likewise

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most famous of our Lord’s parables, and we’ve all been familiar with it since childhood.  It is a story told in response to a sly lawyer who tries to trap our Lord by asking what he must do to inherit

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12th Sunday after Pentecost

Back To School

I’ve always been perturbed by the choice of August as the month where our children return to school.  My own experience, whether in grade school, high school, college or seminary, whether in England, France or Switzerland, was that Back-To-School was synonymous with the first week of September.  But here, for

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11th Sunday after Pentecost

Deaf, Dumb, and Woke

We’re all well aware of the phenomenon that has been sweeping the country for the past few years in which people suddenly make the decision that they are “woke.”  As normal people, we shudder at their rejection of all reality as they vie with each other to invent new mental

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10th Sunday after Pentecost

Thank God We’re Better Than The Rest

Thank God we’re not like other people.  Thank God we’re not like the arrogant publican in today’s gospel!   Like him, it’s so very easy to look around us, especially in today’s morally bereft world, and say to ourselves, or even openly to others, these words that our Lord rejects as

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10th Sunday after Pentecost

Citius, Altius, Fortius

Faster, higher, stronger—the motto of the Olympic Games, which are now taking place in Paris, France.  Some of you may have been unfortunate enough to have witnessed the opening ceremony on Friday, in which we were meant to understand that the Olympics has lost all connection with athletics.  Instead we

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9th Sunday after Pentecost

The Time Of Thy Visitation

Amongst all the Gospels of Trinitytide, today’s stands out as unusual and even unique.  No miracles take place and no parables are told and explained.  Instead we get a glimpse into the human emotions of our Lord followed by another glimpse, this time into his divine nature as he foretells

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9th Sunday after Pentecost

The Cause Is From The Lord

The Matins readings this past week were concerned with the death of King Solomon and the behavior of his successor, his son, Rehoboam.  The last years of Solomon had seen the reign of the old king descend into tyranny, and when he passed on, the people looked to his son

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8th Sunday after Pentecost

Commending The Unjust Steward

Today’s Gospel isn’t the easiest of our Lord’s parables to understand.  We have the story of the unjust steward who wastes his master’s goods.  When he’s told he may no longer be steward, the man has to think fast to avoid financial ruin.  So he changes the figures on the

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8th Sunday after Pentecost

Wiser Than The Children Of Light

I was looking this afternoon for a modern example of an unjust steward, someone who, like the protagonist in today’s Gospel parable, makes friends with the mammon of unrighteousness to achieve a higher purpose.  I didn’t have to look far. At 4pm on Saturday afternoon, I turned for inspiration to

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7th Sunday after Pentecost

Knowing The Wolves That Raven

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Well, there’s some good news this week.  That message about wolves in sheep’s clothing that I’ve been talking about regularly for a long time now—the time has come when we no longer need

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7th Sunday after Pentecost

Interesting Times

There’s an ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”  I think we’d all agree that we do live in interesting times, much too interesting.  Both Church and State give us cause for great anxiety.  First, we get the news that Archbishop Vigano is being excommunicated for having called

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6th Sunday after Pentecost

State Of The Union

If today were any other day than Sunday, we would be celebrating the Commemoration of St. Paul the Apostle.  This great saint was martyred on June 29 in Rome along with St. Peter, and this week we will continue celebrating the octave of their feast.  Saints Peter and Paul are,

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6th Sunday after Pentecost

Princes Of The Church

As we celebrate the feast and octave of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul this week, our attention turns to the Eternal City of Rome.  For it was here that the two apostles were martyred on the same day of June 29 in the year of our Lord 67.  At

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Et Reliqua

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