Podcasts about Passion Sunday

The Sermon from the Fifth Sunday in Lent 2025, delivered by the Very Rev. Sean S. Templeton at St. Anselm Anglican Church on April 6th. The Scripture and Prayers for the Day may be found here: https://bcp2019.anglicanchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/C21-The-Fifth-Sunday-in-Lent-landscape.pdf Learn more about St. Anselm Anglican Church at: www.StAnselmAnglican.org

Dr. Tom Curran shares reflections on the liturgy from Palm Sunday. Tom talks about indulging in worldly cares, throwing down your cloak, waving palms, freeing the rebel, and encountering the two thieves.

Today as we reflect on the Passion narrative from Luke's Gospel, we can't help but see how the totality of evil and human dysfunction flood over Jesus. But we also can't help but see what comes from Jesus during the Passion: healing and forgiveness and mercy. May we always see the Passion as our safe harbor and refuge as Jesus suffers the consequences for our sins and reconciles us to the Father!

Passion Sunday by First Christian Church

Scripture - Luke 23:1-49Thank You for listening!Follow us on Facebook Instagram YouTube Website You can contact us at office@newcovenantaz.orgMaking Jesus Christ the Heart of Every Home.

Palm and Passion Sunday; Sermon based on Luke 19:28-40. Preached at The First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn (https://linktr.ee/firstchurchbrooklyn). Podcast subscription is available at https://cutt.ly/fpcb-sermons or Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/4ccZPt6), Spotify, Amazon, Audible, Podcast Ind....This item belongs to: audio/first-church-brooklyn-sermons.This item has files of the following types: Archive BitTorrent, Columbia Peaks, Item Tile, Metadata, PNG, Spectrogram, VBR MP3

St. Luke's account of the Passion of our Lord Jesus contains some details around the theme of mercy and forgiveness. Even as He was offering His life for us, Jesus was showing mercy, and may He have mercy on us for our sins. #Catholic #homily #Scripture #GospelOfTheDay Sign up to have podcasts and blog posts emailed to you: http://eepurl.com/ioCgy2 Give feedback at https://forms.gle/gGhujv39g43BUxmK6 Readings are found at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041325.cfm

This sermon is drawn from Luke 23:1-56.

Friends, we come to Palm Sunday, which is also called Passion Sunday because we always read at Mass the Passion narrative from one of the synoptic Gospels. This year, we hear from Saint Luke, and I want to look at two elements unique to his particular version, both of which have to do with forgiveness.

Pr. Ben Ball of St. Paul Lutheran-Hamel, IL The post Looking Forward to Sunday Morning (One Year Lectionary): Palm and Passion Sunday – Pr. Ben Ball, 4/10/25 (1002) first appeared on Issues, Etc..

Today is Passion Sunday. As our Lord Jesus Christ declares Himself publically to be the "I AM" in the Gospel of St. John 8, they took up stones to kill Him for His blasphemy. We are told that Jesus hid from them and passed right through the crowd without them seeing Him. Jesus was hidden from those who had set themselves by their own will against Him, not wanting to see Him for His true identity. But to those who came to Jesus with an open soul knowing their need and crying out for mercy, to them He revealed Himself and healed them. The damage done to the human person from hiding from God goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Today we explore the great downfall of hiding from Christ our God compared to the great blessing of presenting ourselves in all of our brokenness to Him.

4/9/25 7am CT Hour - Fr. John Gordon/ Dave Durand John, Glen and Sarah chat about trade negotiations with China, Dominican Republic Night Club collapse, Supreme Court decision on exporting criminals and Full House home sells for 6 million. Fr. John breaks down what Passiontide and how it was changed liturgically to Passion Sunday. How can we finish Lent strong through the rosary. Did You Know - Other uses for apples Dave talks about how we need to strive for greatness ourselves first and/or have a shared goal with our workers to strive for it together.

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21;Psalm 126; Philippians 3:7-16; Luke 20:9-19

Passion Sunday, 2025. We rely exclusively on your support: https://mostholytrinityseminary.org/donate/

Passion Sunday, 2025. Thank you for your support: https://mostholytrinityseminary.org/donate/

Passion Sunday, 2025. Most Holy Trinity Seminary relies on your support: https://mostholytrinityseminary.org/donate/

Isaiah 43:16–21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:7–16 Luke 20:9–19 Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of this world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Text: John 8:46-end

Today is Sunday, April 6, 2025, Passion Sunday, 1st class, with the color of violet. In this episode: The Liturgical Meaning of Passion Sunday, The meditation: “Forty Steps to Easter,” today's news from the Church: “The Contradictions and Inconsistencies of Cardinal Fernández,” and today's thought from the Archbishop. Sources Used Today: Forty Steps to Easter “The Contradictions and Inconsistencies of Cardinal Fernández” (FSSPX.news) https://fsspx.news/en/news/contradictions-and-inconsistencies-cardinal-fernandez-51669 The Spiritual Life- Archbishop Lefebvre (Angelus Press) - - - - - - - We'd love your feedback on these Daily Devotionals! What do you like / not like, and what would you like us to add? podcast@sspx.org - - - - - - - Please Support this Apostolate with 1-time or Monthly Donation >> - - - - - - - Explore more: Subscribe to the email version of this Devotional - it's a perfect companion! Subscribe to this Podcast to receive this and all our audio episodes Subscribe to the SSPX YouTube channel for video versions of our podcast series and Sermons FSSPX News Website: https://fsspx.news Visit the US District website: https://sspx.org/ - - - - - What is the SSPX Podcast? The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.  https://sspx.org

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!Passion Sunday marks an essential turning point in our Lenten journey as we enter Passiontide, the final and most solemn two-week period before Easter. Today, we explored the profound reality of Christ's sacrifice and what it means for our spiritual lives during these sacred days.At the heart of our meditation lies a stunning theological truth from St. John Vianney: "Our Lord suffered more than was necessary to redeem us, but what would have satisfied the justice of His Father would not have satisfied His love." The blood shed at Christ's circumcision alone would have been sufficient for mankind's redemption—each drop of divine blood carrying infinite redemptive power. Yet Christ chose the full suffering of the Cross not from necessity but from superabundant love. This revelation transforms how we understand the Passion and our own participation in it through Lenten practices.Drawing from Scripture, particularly Hebrews 9:12, we see how Christ fulfilled and transcended the Old Testament sacrifices. The high priest's annual blood offering foreshadowed Jesus becoming both priest and victim, offering His own blood for our salvation. Padre Pio's words further illuminate our path: "Let us climb generously the slopes of Calvary for love of Him, who was immolated for love of us." With these insights, I offered four practical resolutions to deepen your Passion Tide experience: dedicate time to meditate on God's sacrificial love, unite your daily struggles with Christ's sufferings, honor Crucifixes you encounter, and gaze lovingly at the Crucifix in your home or office. As we approach Holy Week, these practices help us "double down" on our Lenten commitments and finish our spiritual journey with renewed focus and devotion.Have you placed crucifixes throughout your home and workplace as visible reminders of Christ's sacrifice? Consider how these sacred images might transform your final days of Lenten preparation and draw you deeper into the mystery of God's boundless love.Support the showSponsored by Recusant Cellars, an unapologetically Catholic and pro-life winery from Washington state. Use code BASED25 at checkout for 10% off! https://recusantcellars.com/Also sponsored by Quest Pipe Co. Get your St Isaac Jogues pipe here: https://questpipeco.com/discount/Amish?redirect=%2Fproducts%2Fst-isaac-jogues-limited-edition********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise: https://shop.avoidingbabylon.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comRSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rssSpiritusTV: https://spiritustv.com/@avoidingbabylonRumble: https://rumble.com/c/AvoidingBabylon

Friends of the Rosary,On this fifth Sunday of Lent, the final Sunday before Holy Week and sometimes referred to as “Passion Sunday,” we reflect on the mystery of forgiveness.Lord Jesus shows his merciful love and offers us his forgiveness, as He did with the woman caught in adultery.Like us, the woman was given a new life with Christ, who said, "Go, and from now on do not sin any more."Jesus, who is the Holy One, does not condemn the woman, whereas people who are sinners pass sentence of death.God's infinite mercy should always move us to have compassion on those who commit sins because we are sinners and need God's forgiveness.Today, in Mass, we will see crosses and images covered. This practice will take place until the beginning of the Easter Vigil.March 21, 2025, marked the fifth year since we started praying the Holy Rosary of Mary daily within this community. We are grateful and rejoice in the Holy Virgin as we have found favor in her Rosary — a special grace given to us!Ave Maria!Jesus, I Trust In You!Come, Holy Spirit, come!To Jesus through Mary!Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. Please give us the grace to respond with joy!+ Mikel Amigot | RosaryNetwork.com, New York Enhance your faith with the new Holy Rosary University app:Apple iOS | New! Android Google Play• ⁠April 6, 2025, Today's Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET

Given on Passion Sunday, 2025.

Given on Passion Sunday, 2025.

Hebrews 9: 11-15; John 8: 46-59; Haydock Commentary Please consider donating to help keep this podcast going by going to buymeacoffee.com/catholicdailybrief; also, if you enjoy these episodes, please give a five star rating and share the podcast with your friends and family

April 6th, 2025:  Passion Sunday: The Silence of the Passion; Passion Sunday:  How a Saint Gets Angry; Passion Sunday: The State of the Religious & Holy Matrimony; Passion Sunday: Uniting Ourselves to the Passion of Christ

April 6, Passion Sunday, Lent 5: Isa 43:16-21; Ps 126; Phil 3:7-16; Luke 20:9-19 (Fr. David Smith, preaching)

46 Which of you shall convict me of sin? If I say the truth to you, why do you not believe me?Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato? Si veritatem dico vobis, quare non creditis mihi? 47 He that is of God, heareth the words of God. Therefore you hear them not, because you are not of God.Qui ex Deo est, verba Dei audit. Propterea vos non auditis, quia ex Deo non estis. 48 The Jews therefore answered, and said to him: Do not we say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?Responderunt ergo Judaei, et dixerunt ei : Nonne bene dicimus nos quia Samaritanus es tu, et daemonium habes? 49 Jesus answered: I have not a devil: but I honour my Father, and you have dishonoured me.Respondit Jesus : Ego daemonium non habeo : sed honorifico Patrem meum, et vos inhonorastis me. 50 But I seek not my own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.Ego autem non quaero gloriam meam : est qui quaerat, et judicet. 51 Amen, amen I say to you: If any man keep my word, he shall not see death for ever.Amen, amen dico vobis : si quis sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum. 52 The Jews therefore said: Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest: If any man keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever.Dixerunt ergo Judaei : Nunc cognovimus quia daemonium habes. Abraham mortuus est, et prophetae; et tu dicis : Si quis sermonem meum servaverit, non gustabit mortem in aeternum. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead. Whom dost thou make thyself?Numquid tu major es patre nostro Abraham, qui mortuus est? et prophetae mortui sunt. Quem teipsum facis? 54 Jesus answered: If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father that glorifieth me, of whom you say that he is your God.Respondit Jesus : Si ego glorifico meipsum, gloria mea nihil est : est Pater meus, qui glorificat me, quem vos dicitis quia Deus vester est, 55 And you have not known him, but I know him. And if I shall say that I know him not, I shall be like to you, a liar. But I do know him, and do keep his word.et non cognovistis eum : ego autem novi eum. Et si dixero quia non scio eum, ero similis vobis, mendax. Sed scio eum, et sermonem ejus servo. 56 Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it, and was glad.Abraham pater vester exsultavit ut videret diem meum : vidit, et gavisus est. 57 The Jews therefore said to him: Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?Dixerunt ergo Judaei ad eum : Quinquaginta annos nondum habes, et Abraham vidisti? 58 Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am.Dixit eis Jesus : Amen, amen dico vobis, antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum. 59 They took up stones therefore to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.Tulerunt ergo lapides, ut jacerent in eum : Jesus autem abscondit se, et exivit de templo.St John shows us the growing hatred of the Sanhedrin. Those who ought to have recognized in Jesus the Son of God, greater than Abraham and the Prophets, because He is eternal, disregarded the meaning of His words. They insulted our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messias, whom they declared to be possessed by a devil, a blasphemer, whom they would stone to death.

A Sermon for Passion Sunday Hebrews 9:11-15 by William Klock William Coffin Coleman.  He was a travelling salesman.  He was in his dark hotel room one night and looked out the window.  This was before the days of electrification.  He saw a blindingly bright lamp in a window across the street and had to know what it was.  He walked across the street, knocked on the door, and found out that the lamp—one that ran on pressurized gasoline—was made by a small local company.  Within days he'd tracked down that little company and bought it.  That company would become the Coleman Lamp Company and pretty soon those blindingly bright lamps—the “Sunshine of the Night” as they called it—would be selling across North America and the technology would be adapted to lanterns you could carry with you.  With a Coleman lamp there was no more fumbling around or straining your eyes in the dim light of a wick lantern.  In fact, it'd be crazy to go back to those old kerosene wick lanterns.  A Coleman was not only brighter, it was also safer.  Back in the 20s and 30s displays would show a table lamp mounted on a rotating arm.  Around and around it would turn and it would never go out and it would never start a fire.  You couldn't do that with a kerosene wick lantern. With that in mind, think of our Epistle from the book of Hebrews.  Hebrews is sort of like a biblical Coleman lamp display, except here the writer of Hebrews holds up the New Covenant for his fellow Jews and turns it around and around to show all the ways it's better than the Old and how you'd be a fool to want to go back to the Old.  Matt talked about this in his sermon last week—although without the Coleman illustration.  Last week's Epistle from Galatians highlighted just how tempting it was for Jewish Christians to fall back into the old way—the old covenant way—of doing things.  Some of this was that it was simply the life they knew.  When they became Christians they didn't stop being Jewish.  But there were also Gentiles now coming into this messianic movement.  The unbelieving Jews didn't like that.  As far as they were concerned Gentiles were unclean.  And so these Jewish Christians were shunned by their friends and family and even kicked out of their synagogues for associating with Gentiles.  It got worse as the Jews began to actively persecute the Church.  Jesus had given these new Jewish believers so much more than they'd had in the old covenant, but it was easy to think only about living for the day.  For Jewish Christians it was tempting and it would have been easy to simply drift away from the church and fall back into old covenant Judaism.  And so the writer of Hebrews urges them not to do that.  Despite the persecution, what they have now in Jesus is so much better than what they had before.  The old covenant gave a promise of a new world and a new life in the Messiah.  In Jesus, the Messiah has finally come and he's fulfilled that old promise.  He's inaugurated the new world and the new life.  In Jesus we take part in the fulfilment of God's promises and that's worth it, no matter the cost. To make this point the writer of Hebrews takes us back to the tabernacle, the precursor to the temple in Jerusalem.  Look at Hebrews 9:11-14.   But when the Messiah arrived as a high priest of the good things that were coming, he entered the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands (that is, not of this present creation), and not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood.  He entered, once and for all, into the holy place, accomplishing a redemption that lasts forever.  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the sprinkled ashes of a heifer, make people holy (in the sense of purifying their bodies) when they had been unclean, how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who offered himself to God through the eternal Spirit as a spotless sacrifice, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God!   The tabernacle.  Think back to the book of Exodus.  The Lord rescued his people from their bondage in Egypt and at Mt. Sinai, in the wilderness, he gave him the law, written on stone tablets.  At the same time he also gave Moses very detailed instructions for building the tabernacle—the tent complex where the people would worship the Lord and present their offerings and sacrifices. That tent, the tabernacle, was built to mimic Eden as we see it in the first chapters of Genesis.  The imagery used to decorate the tabernacle was meant to invoke the idea of a garden.  At the core of the tabernacle, as you progressed from the camp of the Israelites into the outer court of the tabernacle and then into the centre of it was the holy place, where only the priests went, and then beyond that was the most holy place.  That was where the ark of the covenant was kept.  It was God's throne room.  That was where the cloud representing the glory of the Lord rested—God in the midst of his people.  But no one was permitted into the most holy place.  Sin and uncleanness cannot enter the presence of the Lord.  Only once a year did the high priest enter the Lord's presence to offer expiation for the sins of the people. Sinners cannot enter the presence of our holy God.  This is why Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden.  But there in the wilderness, as God's plan of redemption began to move forward, he instructed his people to build this tabernacle so that they could once again know him, so that they could live with him in their midst.  It was a partial undoing of the consequences of sin.  Adam and Eve had once lived in the most holy place, in God's presence.  That's what Eden was about.  They were to live and to serve in God's presence, cultivating his garden.  And as they were fruitful and multiplied, the garden, that holy place would grow—until it filled the whole earth.  Because of their rebellion, Adam and Eve were driven out from God's presence.  But in the wilderness the Lord helped Israel to build a model of that most holy place, he took up his residence in it, and he gave the people a law by which they could live on the periphery of that manifestation of his glory.  They couldn't enter directly into his presence, but whereas Adam and Eve were driven away, in the tabernacle, the Lord now drew his people near.  It was the beginning of something good.  The beginning of renewal.  The tabernacle, the law, the whole old covenant were good things.  They reminded God's people of his promise to one day set all of creation to rights and to restore his people fully to his presence.  It was a light in the darkness. The problem for Israel was that in the day-in and day-out activity of living around the tabernacle, of living the law, and of routinely making sacrifices and offerings, it became very easy to forget that all of this pointed to a greater reality and a greater fulfilment.  These things were like the dim light of a wick lamp.  The tabernacle, the sacrifices, the law were never meant to be a permanent arrangement.  The point was never for God's people merely to camp out around the place of his presence, merely to be able to get close to the Holy of Holies.  The goal was to return to Eden itself, to return to a life in the presence of the Lord.  God and humanity brought back together; heaven and earth rejoined.  A far greater light was coming.  As Christians we're, too, often guilty of forgetting God's end goal.  We come to the Lord's Table on Sundays, we gather with our brothers and sisters for worship, and we make it very routine and hum-drum, forgetting that what we have here is a down-payment on the full inheritance that Jesus will be bringing with him when he returns—of resurrection and new life and of living fully in the presence of the Father. This is what the writer of Hebrews is getting at when he talks about Jesus as our great high priest of the good things to come.  The tabernacle was a good thing, but it pointed to better things, just as the Lord's Supper is a good thing, but points to something even better.  And Hebrews says, as our high priest, Jesus entered not in to the most holy place of the tabernacle.  No.  At the cross Jesus entered into the true, the real holy of holies—the one of which the holy of holies in the tabernacle was only a representation and only a shadow.  In his death, Jesus entered the real, the actual presence of his Father.  The good news is that because Jesus has entered the Father's presence as our great high priest, since he has made purification for us, we're now ourselves welcomed into the Father's presence as well. Again, in the face of hostility and persecution, many Jewish Christians were tempted to just go back to the old way of doing things.  In their day the temple, the great building of stone on the mountain above Jerusalem, had replaced the tabernacle, but it was laid out on the same plan and served the same purpose.  The temple and the sacrifices were good things.  Why not just do things the old way?  The Lord had commanded them, after all.  Why risk persecution by joining with Gentiles to worship Jesus?  And so Hebrews reminds them: as good as the temple was, Jesus went to the real place the temple represents.  The temple was a model that pointed to the heavenly reality.  When Jesus takes us into the heavenly reality, how can we possibly justify going back to the model? Jesus as our great high priest entering the most holy place naturally leads us to the second point Hebrews makes here about the new covenant and how it's better than the old.  The priests of the old covenant entered the most holy place of the tabernacle once every year.  We're told here that Jesus entered once and for all time.  The old sacrifices were good until the next time you sinned.  The sacrifice that Jesus made at the cross is good forever.  Why?  Because when the old priests went into the holy of holies they took with them the blood of goats and calves.  Jesus entered the presence of the Father with his own blood. This was hard for many Jews to understand.  The Messiah was supposed to triumph over Israel's enemies and reign forever.  He wasn't supposed to die, let alone die the most humiliating death imaginable at the hands of their pagan overlords.  Maybe the Messiah would be their great high priest, but priests make sacrifices.  They aren't supposed to be sacrifices themselves.  That's what bulls and goats were for.  And yet, it's all there in Israel's scriptures—if you know how to look at it.  And that's what Hebrews is about. So, first, the Old Testament sacrifices taught the people to trust the Lord.  To offer a sacrifice is to give up something valuable.  This is a principle throughout the law.  The sabbath, for example, taught people to give one day a week to the Lord.  The gentiles scrambled for a living six days a week, but not God's people.  The sabbath taught them to trust in the Lord's provision.  Think of the manna in the wilderness.  Five days they gathered what they needed, but on the sixth day the Lord provide an extra measure to see them through the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was an act of faith.  And so was the tithe.  The gentiles held on to everything they got, but God's people gave him the first tenth—not the last, not what was left over—but the first tenth of everything.  It was an act of faith and he provided. But the animals sacrificed for the people in the temple took things a step further.  They reminded the people of the cost of sin.  Because of their sin, Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, cut off from the tree of life.  Brothers and Sisters, sin puts us outside the presence of our holy God. Sin separates us from the source of life.  Sinners die.  The only way back into the presence of our holy God is by the shedding of blood.  And that's the second point made about sacrifice here.  Redemption from sin requires the death of another in our place.  The animals sacrificed in the temple were costly sacrifices, but they were also imperfect sacrifices.  They were dumb and unwilling.  They served only until the next sin was committed.  And they brought the people only into the tabernacle or the temple.  For the people to be truly cleansed from sin, for the people to enter into the Holy of Holies would require an even costlier sacrifice. Those sacrifices pointed to Jesus.  In Jesus, God himself took up our flesh—he became one of his own people.  He did that so that he could represent them.  He became like a second Adam.  And so Jesus obediently and willingly gave his life for them—and for us.  He was the costly sacrifice—the spotless lamb, the best of the flock.  As our representative, he took on himself the death that we deserve.  This is why we can say, as we do in the Lord's Supper, that by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world has been made.  This is why we can pray that by his flesh and by his blood our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood.  The blood of animal sacrifices gave a superficial cleanness to people who had been defiled by their sin, but Jesus' blood doesn't just make us superficially clean.  It purifies us from the inside out.  And so we can also pray that as his body and blood make us clean, we may evermore dwell in him and he in us.  By his blood we can finally enter the Holy of Holies, we can finally be restored to the presence of our holy Creator. And that gets at the third point made here—the third way in which Jesus' sacrifice is better than the old sacrifices and the new covenant is better than the old.  The sacrifices of the old covenant were shadows pointing to the real sacrifice.  The holy of holies in the temple was a shadow of the real holy of holies, not just the heavenly presence of the Father, but it looked forward to the day when Creation will finally be set to rights, when heaven and earth will finally be joined together and humanity can once again live in God's presence, just as Adam and Eve did before they sinned.  The cleanness and atonement offered by those old sacrifices was a shadow of the atonement and the cleanness offered by Jesus.  Jesus didn't just enter the central room of the temple in Jerusalem to offer the blood of an animal on our behalf.  Jesus, who is both God himself and our perfect human representative, entered into the actual presence of his Father with his own blood shed at the cross.  In doing that he offers a sacrifice that washes us clean from sin to the very core of our being. Somehow the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, Hebrews says, purifies our conscience from dead works so that we can serve the living God.  Brothers and Sisters, through Jesus we are transformed.  Chapter 6 introduced this language of “dead works”, but it refers to our repentance from our old pagan and sinful ways and also, for the Jewish Christians, from the obligations of the old covenant and its temple and sacrificial system.  As good as those things were, as God-given as they were, Jesus now offers something better.  Jesus' sacrifice undoes our sin once and for all.  Through him we have access to the presence of God.  What we lost when Adam sinned we now have back—or at least we have the down payment of it and hope for its fullness in the future.  Jesus washes us clean with his blood and having purified us for the presence of God, he makes us his dwelling place, his tabernacle, as he fills us with the Holy Spirit.  And the Spirit then sanctifies our hearts and our minds, making them holy again so that we can serve the living God just as Adam did in the garden.  Jesus, by his sacrifice, not only leads us into the holy of holies to know God's presence, but in giving us the Spirit he also makes us—you and me and, collectively his Church—the holy of holies: God's presence in us. Verse 15 stresses again that this is all and only through Jesus: For this reason, Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant.  The purpose was that those who are called should receive the promised inheritance of the age to come, since a death has occurred which provides redemption from transgressions committed under the first covenant.   Jesus is the mediator.  There's no other way.  Even the old way—the way of the tabernacle and the sacrifices—that God once gave is now defunct.  It's been fulfilled.  The thing to which it pointed, the thing for which it was preparing the people, the new thing has finally come in Jesus. Imagine a frozen river.  The first time Veronica and I went to Montréal the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers were frozen.  We were driving across the bridge from the west end of the island where the two rivers meet and we saw a Jeep cruising over the ice back towards Montréal.  The ice was that thick.  You can do that in the middle of a cold Québec winter, but when Spring comes the bridge is the only way across.  Try driving your car on thin ice—or try driving on water—and you'll die. In Jesus, Spring has come to the world.  In Jesus a bridge has been provided across the water.  The law was perfectly good in its time, just as the ice was safe to drive on if you wanted to cross the river in January, but the time has passed for that.  If you want to cross the river now the bridge Jesus provides is the only way.  Hebrews was written to people who feared persecution for following Jesus.  They were used to driving on the ice and despite the fact that it was now melting and thin, they were still tempted to keep driving on it.  Last week in our Epistle from Galatians we read about the Judaisers.  They were insisting that to follow Jesus the Gentiles had to be circumcised, follow the right dietary rules, and observe the Sabbath.  They still said they were following Jesus, but it doesn't work that way.  That's like telling everyone how perfectly good the bridge is while trying to drive your car across the thawing river.  The ice is melting.  The time for those old ways has passed.  Jesus offers something better and his way is now the only way. Brothers and Sisters, do our lives demonstrate faith in Jesus as our sole mediator?  While you and I may not be tempted to go back to the law or the temple or the old covenant sacrifices, we have our own pasts to which we often hold more tightly than we may realise.  We profess faith in Jesus, but we still haven't repented of all of our old loyalties, all of our old ways of doing things, all of our old sources of security.  We profess Jesus, but we still find satisfaction in sin and in self.  We say we trust Jesus, but we still look for security in work and in money.  We say we trust Jesus, but we often evaluate ourselves not based on what he has done for us, but on what we think we've done for him.  Friends, it's like giving people directions to the bridge, while we ourselves are sitting in our cars with the engine running, nosing our wheels into the water and thinking we'll somehow get across the river.  Lent is a time for us to look around, to take stock, and to evaluate our situation.  Easter is only two weeks away.  It's a reminder that in Jesus Spring has arrived.  The river isn't frozen anymore.  We need to let go of the old ways of life and follow Jesus across the bridge. Yes, to follow Jesus means challenge and sacrifice, but Jesus is better in every way.  He and he alone has redeemed up from death to serve the living God. Let us pray: Gracious Father, we thank you this morning for the sacrifice you have made in the death of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.  In Jesus the price of our sin has been paid once and for all.  By his blood we are washed clean through and through.  Strengthen our faith, Father, that we might trust fully in Jesus as our only mediator.  Open our eyes to the areas of life in which we've failed to repent, and give us the faith to entrust those things to you.  We ask this through him, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen.

We study the sermon for Passion Sunday by Saint Alphonsus Liguori.Please support the Our Lady of Fatima Podcast:Buymeacoffee.com/TerenceMStantonThank you!

Fr. Glenn Spencer's sermon for Passion Sunday preached on April 6, 2025 at All Saints Anglican Church in Charlottesville, VA.

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!What does it mean to be obedient in today's Church? As we approach the final stretch of Lent—just two weeks away from Holy Saturday—this reflection tackles one of the most challenging aspects of modern Catholic life.The journey begins with beautiful scriptural images of Christ as our Good Shepherd, living water, maternal figure who never forgets us, and the light of the world. These metaphors reveal how completely Christ nourishes our spiritual lives, especially through His Body and Blood. But such overwhelming love demands a response from us, ideally one of prompt, joyful obedience.Yet obedience isn't simple in contemporary Catholicism. Between different communities with varying relationships to Church authority—from SSPX to diocesan structures—Catholics must navigate competing claims about where true obedience lies. The reflection acknowledges this tension honestly, advocating for a middle path that prioritizes obedience to Christ and Church dogma while extending grace to those whose prudential judgments differ from our own.There's wisdom in recognizing that the Church allows latitude on many matters. Rather than demanding absolute uniformity or abandoning structure entirely, we're called to respect the legitimate diversity within Catholic practice while maintaining unity on essentials. As we enter Passiontide tomorrow, we're reminded of seminarians making their commitment to celibacy through subdiaconate ordinations—men whose sacrificial obedience deserves our prayers and support.How will you balance faithful obedience with thoughtful discernment this Holy Week? Join us tomorrow as we explore love unto sacrifice on Passion Sunday, marking our entry into the final phase of our Lenten journey.Support the showSponsored by Recusant Cellars, an unapologetically Catholic and pro-life winery from Washington state. Use code BASED25 at checkout for 10% off! https://recusantcellars.com/Also sponsored by Quest Pipe Co. Get your St Isaac Jogues pipe here: https://questpipeco.com/discount/Amish?redirect=%2Fproducts%2Fst-isaac-jogues-limited-edition********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise: https://shop.avoidingbabylon.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comRSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rssSpiritusTV: https://spiritustv.com/@avoidingbabylonRumble: https://rumble.com/c/AvoidingBabylon

Morning lessons: Psalms 86, 87; Leviticus 16; Mark 4:35-5:20.  Bow down your ear, O Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and in misery.

Evening lessons: Psalm 88; Job 4; Titus 3.  O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you; O let my prayer enter into your presence; incline your ear to my call.

The Order for Evening Prayer, The Thursday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Morning Prayer, The Thursday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Morning Prayer, The Friday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Evening Prayer, The Friday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Morning Prayer, The Saturday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Evening Prayer, The Saturday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Morning Prayer, The Monday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Morning Prayer, The Tuesday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Evening Prayer, The Tuesday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Morning Prayer, The Wednesday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Evening Prayer, The Wednesday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien

The Order for Morning Prayer, Passion Sunday, The Fifth Sunday in Lent by Fr. Damien

The Order for Evening Prayer, Passion Sunday, The Fifth Sunday in Lent by Fr. Damien

The Order for Evening Prayer, The Monday after Passion Sunday by Fr. Damien