Dear Friends in Christ,
Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday (June 23, 2024) is the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. In the Gospel reading for this Sunday Our Lord cautions us against anger: “You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment” (Matthew 5:21-22). Do not be angry may not be found among the Ten Commandments, but the sinful character of anger is all too obvious in a world where its consequences abound in incidents of road rage, domestic strife, civil discord and so much more. Anger stands in opposition to love; and so, to be angry is to be lacking in charity. To give in to anger is an offense against the second commandment given us by Our Lord: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:39). Thus, when we sin in this way, it is necessary that we not only be reconciled to the brother, sister, spouse, friend, enemy or other individual whom we have offended, but that we make our peace with God Himself.
Calendar of Saints and Special Observances
Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962 or on the liturgical calendar of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.
DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)
Sunday, June 23 – Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (II)
Monday, June 24 – The Nativity of St. John the Baptist (I)
Tuesday, June 25 – St. William, Abbot (III)
Wednesday, June 26 – Ss. John and Paul, Martyrs (III)
Thursday, June 27 – Feria (IV) [Our Lady of Perpetual Help (IV)]
Friday, June 28 – Vigil of Ss. Peter and Paul, Apostles (II)
Saturday, June 29 – Ss. Peter and Paul, Apostles (I)
Note: The Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (II), celebrated on June 23rd in most years, is displaced by the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost in the current year.
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost with either English or Spanish translation. The English version includes a commentary on the Gospel reading for the day by Msgr. Ronald A. Knox (1888-1957). We also offer a link to an essay by Dr. Michael P. Foley on “The Loving Collect of the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost” from New Liturgical Movement.
Latin Mass Schedule: Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (June 23, 2024)
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
Diocese of Charleston Latin Masses
Latin Mass Schedule: Weekdays
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
Diocese of Charleston Latin Masses
Note: Travelers are advised to contact parish offices to confirm weekday and Saturday Mass times, since local schedules are sometimes subject to change without notice, especially on or around holidays, holy days of obligation and other special feast days.
Announcements
Traditional Silent Retreat with Fr. Lawrence Carney: From Friday July 19 through Sunday July 21, the Legion of Mary in Raleigh will sponsor a silent retreat at the Catholic Conference Center in nearby Hickory, NC, for both men and women (ages 18 and up). The retreat will be led by Fr. Lawrence Carney of the Diocese of Wichita. Fr. Carney, who visited St. Thomas Aquinas Parish last year, has written two books on the Holy Face devotion published by TAN Books: Preparation for Total Consecration to the Holy Face of Jesus: How God Draws the Soul into the Purgative, Illuminative, and Unitive Ways and Secret of the Holy Face: The Devotion Destined to Save Society.
The theme of the retreat will be Total Consecration to the Holy Face and Growth in the Interior Life. A Traditional Latin Mass will be offered during the retreat. The cost is $300 per participant (double occupancy) or $330 (single occupancy). To register contact Tammy Huffman at Luvr1mary@gmail.com or (919) 744 6998. Additional information about the retreat and the registration form are available here.
Holy Face Devotions
Prayers of Reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus are offered each week at the following churches on the indicated days:
Latin Mass and Liturgical News
Saints and Special Observances
Saints Peter and Paul have been honored on the same date, June 29th, since at least as early as the fourth century; that is, for so long that it is no longer possible to say exactly how the combined feast came about. There is evidence that in the early age of Christianity there was a popular belief that the two had been made martyrs on the same day or date. There are many such cases on the Roman Calendar: For example, Saints John and Paul, Martyrs, are honored together on June 26th, the date both were slain at Rome during the persecution of Julian the Apostate (361-363). But the exact dates on which the saints honored together on June 29th were made martyrs remains unknown, and Peter certainly went to his death before Paul.
Saint Peter was executed during the reign of the Emperor Nero, around the year 64 A.D., crucified upside-down at his own request in order to forego the distinction of being put to death in the same way as Our Lord. Numerous sources – including Origen, Eusebius, Clement of Rome, Ignatius and Irenaeus – attest to the fact that Peter was executed on Vatican Hill and buried there. St. Peter’s Basilica was later constructed, between the years 1506 and 1615, above the site of the saint’s interment and a memorial that had been erected there.
Saint Paul went to his own death about three years after Saint Peter, probably sometime in the last year or two of Nero’s reign (54-68 A.D.) Saint Jerome gave credence to the legend that Peter and Paul were martyred on the same day when he wrote in De Viris Illustribus that “in the fourteenth year of Nero on the same day with Peter, [Paul] was beheaded at Rome for Christ’s sake and was buried in the Ostian way. . . .” Paul was not subjected to the ignominy of crucifixion because he was a Roman citizen entitled to a quicker and less shameful means of dispatch. He was buried outside the walls of Rome on land owned by a Christian woman named Lucina. Constantine the Great built the first church on the site in the fourth century; his successors added onto it. Today, the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, constructed in the 19th century, stands on the site of Saint Paul’s burial.
Saints Peter and Paul are jointly celebrated on June 29th not because they were martyred on the same day but because they represent the twin pillars on which the Church established by Our Lord has stood for two thousand years. Next to Jesus Himself, Peter is the most important figure in the four canonical Gospels. Among the first called to be an Apostle, he was also named the Rock upon which the Church of Our Lord was to be founded. He was present at the Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he walked with Jesus along the shore of the Sea of Galilee after the Resurrection and was told to “feed My sheep.” The first dozen chapters of the Acts of the Apostles are primarily concerned with his efforts to build up the Church following the Ascension of Our Lord. He was the author of two canonical letters included in the New Testament and is believed to have been the primary source for material contained in the Gospel According to Saint Mark. As the first Bishop of Rome, Saint Peter has been the model for every Pope since selected to fill the shoes of the fisherman.
If Saint Peter was the great leader of the Church, Saint Paul has always been considered its great thinker. He is the acknowledged author of half the books included in the New Testament. The theology of Christianity is rooted in the epistles Paul wrote to the various churches he established and to those who assisted him in his missionary work. Called by Christ Himself, he became the greatest of converts; his conversion on the road to Damascus was a seminal moment in the history of the Church. The majority of chapters in the Acts of the Apostles (13 through 28) are devoted to the story of his travels around the known world, bringing the Good News of Christ Crucified to the people of all nations. It is safe to say that but for the labors of Saint Paul there would be no universal Catholic Church. The hardships that he endured laid the groundwork for everything that came after.
Saints Peter and Paul were each called by Jesus Himself to serve as His preeminent Apostles and to give their lives for the establishment of His Church. Their combined efforts made Christianity a reality, and that is why we honor them together on their shared feast day of June 29th.
Closing Commentary
In closing, we offer an excerpt from the commentary on the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost in The Liturgical Year of Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB, followed by a link to the full text.
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
This Sunday, which, with the Greeks, is called the fifth of Saint Matthew, was known by the Latins as the Sunday of the Fishing; such was its name up to the time when the Church had transferred to the previous Sunday the Gospel which suggested that title. The week which it commences is, in some ancient lectionaries, called the first after the Feast of the Apostles or of St. Peter; in others, it is the second or third after the same feast; these, and other similar varieties of names, which it is no rare thing to find in the liturgical books of the Middle Ages, originated in Easters being kept sooner or later in the years when those books were written.
The Church began last night the reading of the second book of Kings; it opens with the description of Saul’s sad end and David’s accession to the throne of Israel. The exaltation of Jesse’s son is the climax to the prophetic life of the ancient people. In David, God had found his faithful servant, and he resolved to exhibit him to the world as the most perfect figure of the future Messiah. A solemn promise of Jehovah assured the new monarch as to the future of his race; his throne was to be everlasting, for, at some future day, it was to be the throne of Him who should be called the Son of the Most High, though, at the same time, he was to be the Son of David.
But, while the tribe of Juda was hailing in Hebron the King elected by the Lord, there were dark clouds on the horizon. In her Vespers of yesterday, the Church sang, as one of her finest Antiphons, the funeral ode which inspiration dictated to David, when he saw the regal crown that had been picked up from the dust and gore of the battlefield, whereon had fallen the princes of Israel: Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew nor rain come upon you, for there was cast away the shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil! How are the valiant fallen in battle! Jonathan slain on the high places! Saul and Jonathan exceeding lovely and comely in their life; even in death they were not divided.
The proximity of the great solemnity of the Apostles, June the 29th, to the Saturday when this Antiphon is sung, has suggested to the Church to apply its last words to Saints Peter and Paul, during the octave of their Feast: “Glorious Princes of the earth! as they loved each other in their life, so even in their death they were not divided!” Like the Hebrew people at this period of their history, our Christian armies have often had to hail their kings, almost in the same breath that said the requiem over their predecessors.
Mass.—As on last Sunday, so again today, the Church seems to unite together the readings of the previous night and the solemn entrance of the Sacrifice. The Introit for this fifth Sunday, is taken from Psalm the 26th, which was composed by David on occasion of his coronation in Hebron. It expresses the humble confidence of him who has nothing here below to trust in; and yet he has the Lord, as his light and salvation. In the events just referred to, nothing less than a blind faith in God’s promises could have kept up the courage of the young shepherd of Bethlehem, and nothing less could have inspired the people who had made him their king. But we must see beyond this; we must understand that the kingship of Jesse’s son and his descendents, in the ancient Jerusalem, represents, for our Mother the Church, a grander royalty, and a more lasting dynasty,—the kingship of Christ and the dynasty of the Sovereign Pontiffs.