Fr. Paul Ward: Homiletic Series: Catechesis on the Liturgy: #1

I want to start a series on my blog of the wonderful homilies of Fr. Paul Ward: the enthusiastic young priest (and great homilist, or "preacher" as our esteemed Protestant brethren would say) from my own parish, St. Joseph's in Detroit. A sister parish in our "cluster" offers the only approved Tridentine Mass in the Detroit metro area, and we have the Latin Novus Ordo mass every Sunday. I've attended this parish since March 1991 (shortly after my conversion). It's a gorgeous German Gothic Revival cathedral, built in 1873 (we also offer a German Mass once a month). I've heard that the bell is the largest single one in North America. The stained glass, imported from Germany (and recently restored), is also quite impressive and beautiful.

The first homily in the series was so excellent that when I heard they were to be posted on his website, I had to make a link here. It's also a subject I don't write much about myself, so it will be a worthy addition of links to my own collection.

Fr. Paul Ward saying Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe, on a recent pilgrimage with his youth group, Trailblazers. Click to enlarge (as with all photos on this blog)

Fr. Paul just started this new series of homilies last week, on "Catechesis on the Liturgy of the Mass," so it seemed appropriate to start a new series on my blog too. I will post notice of each new homily, so that, hopefully, this great teaching can get wider exposure.

Last week, the homily dealt with "Prayer before Mass, Introit and Genuflection."

Fr. Paul states on his website: "I love hearing from people!" So here is his own link for feedback. I'm sure he would appreciate hearing from you. Surely, priests are happy to find out if their homilies are having a positive effect on those who hear (or read) them. Tell him you learned about his homily here! Maybe I'll get a good report of feedback on Sunday.

END