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 statue of an angel with a ruler in front of a candle.
18th Sunday after Pentecost

Angels And Demons

As we enter today the month of October, it’s a good time to start turning our thoughts to our celestial companions, the Angels.  Who are these creatures, and what relevance do they have in our own lives in this “enlightened” 21st century? God does nothing without a good reason.  He

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Christ Window nain
17th Sunday after Pentecost

Life After Death

When we talk about “life after death” we have in mind something quite specific.  Often referring to it as simply “the afterlife” we mean the life everlasting, our eternal life with God in heaven.  There’s another possibility of course, but we like to keep things on a positive note, so

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Pieta LG
17th Sunday after Pentecost

Our Lady of Ransom

Between the 8th and the 15th centuries, medieval Europe was in a state of intermittent warfare between the Christian kingdoms of southern France, Sicily and portions of Spain and the Muslim states of North Africa.  Raids by militias, bands and armies from both sides were an almost annual occurrence.  Capture,

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Monk Abbot
16th Sunday after Pentecost

Healing on the Sabbath

Once again, the Pharisees in today’s Gospel are up to no good.  As our Lord entered the house of one of them to eat bread on the sabbath, it says that “they watched him.”  Why did they watch him?  To learn from his teachings?  No.  To seek out the depth

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Stigmata
16th Sunday after Pentecost

The Stigmata of St. Francis

(From the Encyclopedia Britannica) At Christmastime in 1223, Francis participated in an important ceremony when he celebrated the birth of Jesus by recreating the manger of Bethlehem at a church in Greccio, Italy. This celebration demonstrated his devotion to Christ in his Human Nature, a devotion that would be rewarded

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Two hands making a heart shape at sunset.
15th Sunday after Pentecost

The Right Way To Love Our Neighbor

When our Lord confirmed which are the greatest of the commandments, he placed God as our first priority and then our neighbor.  First, love God with all your heart and mind and soul, and secondly, love your neighbor as yourself.  We should never place our love for our neighbor above

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A painting of jesus laying on the ground with a woman.
Seven Sorrows

The Via Matris

The First Sorrow: The Dark Prophecy of Simeon Let us meditate on the First Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin, when she presented her only Son in the temple, laid him in the arms of holy Simeon, and heard the prophetic words, “This one shall be a sword of sorrow to

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green traffic light
14th Sunday after Pentecost

Ye Are Not Under The Law

There’s something rather remarkable in today’s Epistle from St. Paul to the Galatians.  He tells them that they are not under the law, they can do whatever they want to do.  There is of course one condition to this extraordinary liberty he claims they have.  That one condition is that

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pierced heart bvm
14th Sunday after Pentecost

A Sword Shall Pierce

The Seven Sorrows (or Dolors) of our Blessed Lady are: The Prophecy of Simeon The Flight into Egypt The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem Mary meeting Jesus on the Via Dolorosa The Crucifixion of Jesus on Mount Calvary Jesus’s Descent from the Cross The Burial

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Leper grateful
13th Sunday after Pentecost

Giving Him Thanks

There’s a temptation to be avoided when we read today’s Gospel of the Ten Lepers.  We may be tempted to imagine that it’s just one of those nice little Bible stories, kind of like Aesop’s Fables, that are meant to give us a simple message: “And the moral of the

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Church and State
13th Sunday after Pentecost

Church And State

The recent Republican Primary Debate was a sobering reminder that the next race for control of the White House has begun.  With this in mind, we would do well to re-examine the relationship between politics and religion, the better to understand how each is essential in our lives, albeit in

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Silent Monk
12th Sunday after Pentecost

Silence Is Golden

When I was at seminary, we were held to a very strict schedule every day.  We always knew where we should be and what we should be doing, whether it was class, private study, prayer, meals, chores or recreation.  After dinner every evening, we had such a period of recreation,

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Weathervane
12th Sunday after Pentecost

A Change Of Wind

The last week of August is traditionally a time for mental shifting.  As the last days of summer dwindle away, to be replaced next week by the beginning of colder and darker times, we feel within us a whole psychological modification.  We feel the need for change, to say farewell

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Assumption 9
Assumption

He That Is Mighty

The world is full of important people.  They are divided into two categories, those who are regarded as important by society at large, and those who are regarded as important only by themselves.  Do you consider yourself important?  If so, please know that you may be the only one who

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Passing Torch
11th Sunday after Pentecost

Passing The Torch

I realized just the other day how old I am.  I was born in 1955, which makes me 68 now.  Not that old perhaps in these days of advanced medical technology where they manage to preserve us for longer than they probably should.  But what made me think about the

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BVM Weeping
11th Sunday after Pentecost

Overcoming Obstacles

106 years ago today, on the morning of August 13, 1917, the Mayor of Fatima sent his officers to kidnap the three children, Lucia, aged 10, Francisco, aged 9, and Jacinta, aged 7.  After interrogating them, the next day he had them led into the public prison in Ourém. Imprisoned

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Transfiguration 
Transfiguration

A Quick Look At God And Man

I don’t know if any of you happened to read last Sunday’s Gospel while I was away on my travels?  If you did, you’ll remember it described our Lord pausing as he made his way to the Holy City of Jerusalem, and, from a vantage point overlooking the city he

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Midlife Crisis
Transfiguration

Time To Transfigure

There comes a time in every man’s life when he feels the need to take a step back and examine his life.  He looks to the ever-diminishing future with a correspondingly increasing interest in what comes next, asking himself the big question that has been so often relegated to some

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Human Soul
8th Sunday after Pentecost

Taking Care Of Our Soul

One of the many things God can do that we can’t is to create something out of nothing.  Sure, we imagine that we’re creating things—a chef who creates a great recipe, a writer who creates an epic novel, a musician who thinks up amazing melodies from the top of his

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Child of God
8th Sunday after Pentecost

If Children, Then Heirs

In a certain sense, all men and women are the children of God.  As our biological parents are our father and mother in the natural and physical sense of the word, our Father in heaven has a far greater claim to paternity by bestowing on us an immortal soul. The

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Et Reliqua

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