A New Feature: What Happened This Week at St Anthony Parish

A new column discussing life at the parish.

I am going to start a new column today. Basically, a behind the scenes look at what is going on in the parish and on the podcast.

Radio show/podcast

We run two podcast/radio programs. They appear on the same podcast but they air on different radio stations. One is heard at midnight and three o’clock a.m. on WEZE 590 AM and the other twelve hours later on WROL 950 AM. They are two different programs. These are not Catholic stations but Christian.

The O numbered programs air on WEZE and the V programs air on WROL.

I record each of the morning programs (WEZE) usually on the Saturday about 9 days before the Monday they begin to air. They are mostly a teaching on the first of the daily readings at Mass. The WROL program is anything from commentaries to interviews.

I usually record at least three and often five of the morning programs around 9 am on Saturday. Today was no exception. As of this writing, I have four in the can as the expression goes. The programs, which will air the week of September 9th, will feature chapters from 1 Corinthians.

A clobber passage

Tuesday September 10, the program will feature chapter 6 verses 6-9 which is one of the “clobber passages.” If you did not know, these are passages used to clobber members of the homosexual world to call them “evil sinners,’ in a most uncharitable form of speech. If you want to understand why many homosexual hate Christianity state here.

It reflects a problem in our Church: a strong focus on avoiding sin but not a strong focus on seeking Christ or living in charity, for that matter. Of course, if you seek Christ you will avoid sin by default. So, I speak on the latter two positions more than on the former. I also explain in, I believe, the same show that focusing exclusively on sin is lazy preaching.

Well, one of the reasons it is called the clobber passage is because it Christians use it to label homosexuals sinners. In the New American Bible Revised Edition which is the Bible version used at Catholic Masses in the United States, Paul uses the terms male concubines and sodomites.

I believe people use the latter word today as a pejorative. They are not trying to help Catholics pastorally as they try to address their homosexual orientation in their desire to be disciples of Christ.

You have heard these Catholic apologists use the word sodomite in a pejorative way as if they are serving God. “Those people minister to the sodomites,” or “We need to reverse sodomite marriage.”

St. Paul understood sexual relationships only within marriage. If one was not married, he recommended to remain so. However, if he could not live chastely then he was to marry. Marriage meant being completely faithful to one’s spouse; so, any form of sexuality outside of marriage Paul forbade. Paul was speaking about the marriage between a man and a woman. He was forbidding what in some cultures is the saying: a man has three and a half women: his wife, two mistresses and a man. This is exactly the type of situation Paul forbode.

Going to the original texts

The New American Bible Revised Edition specifically mentions sodomites by name. As I researched for the show, I looked up the verse in Latin. As I explain, I do not read Greek or Hebrew but I do read Latin if need be. So, if I question a word, I look to see what the Vulgate says. This is the version of the Bible translated into Latin by St. Jerome and before him, St. Clement. I use the Clementine version which is on my Verbum software I use for research.

The Latin word leads me to know which is the word in Greek as well. This is because the version I use has the Latin word and the Greek one below it.

Well, the word sodomite is not in the Latin nor the Greek. Paul does not use it. the closest he comes to it is molle which some translate as effeminate but actually means soft. My research indicates this use is to describe one like a severely spoiled brat such as those eliminated by Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka from the famous movie. However, I should note the Latin word molle is like the English word run. It has many definitions but sodomite is not one of them.

I think of how many Catholic apologists use the word sodomite to promote so called orthodoxy when it is not in this original text at 1 Corinthians 6:9. It really shows why I often disagree with these professional Catholic apologists. I want to help the parishioners and listeners know all the time what the Church actually teaches.

You can hear the show on Tuesday September 10th on WEZE 590 am in Boston and elsewhere on WEZEradio.com online at midnight and 3:00 am ET. After 3:16 am, it drops at CatholicAudioMedia.com or any of the podcast platforms listed there as well.

On September 9th, I discuss St. Peter Claver and his ministry to slaves in Central and South America. The rest of week, I focus on the contiguous chapters of 1 Corinthians as they appear in the daily missal of your choice.

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What’s On the Radio This Week

This week’s programs will feature a look at the first chapters of 1 Corinthians, because they are the first reading, on the O numbered programs (WEZE). The V numbered programs (WROL) you will hear excerpts from my appearance on the YouTube channel Uncharted Catholic Man episode 245. That will be Tuesday through Friday. Monday is the homily I delivered over the weekend.

Cerco de Jericó

The Brazilian community finished their Cerco de Jerico this week. It is a devotion in which the Eucharist is carried in procession around the church grounds while the community sings various devotional hymns in Portuguese. They did the weekly devotion on Tuesday nights at 8:45 pm and did one procession around property each week. One song they sing is Joshua Fought Battle of Jericho in Portuguese. The last night, which was Tuesday, the procession goes around the grounds seven times. Fr. Francisco carried the Eucharist the entire way, of course, with well over a hundred members of the faithful of all ages including candle bearers, thurifer, guitars and faithful. It is always wonderful.

Eucharistic Adoration

The English speaking community continued our Eucharistic Adoration on Wednesdays after the 5:30 pm Mass and during that time, I sit in the confessional or its Father Kingsley. He, is still away in Nigeria, and should return this week.

Forty days of St. Michael

This is also the forty days of St. Michael which I also learned about from the Brazilians. This is a special devotion to St. Michael. In English, we say the St. Michael prayer at the end of the Mass. At the end of the Brazilian Masses, they do a whole litany to St. Michael. People appreciate we do this.

Masses over the weekend

Come join us for Mass on Sundays at 10:00 am. It is our chanted Mass where we chant The Liturgy of the Eucharist all except the Eucharistic Prayer. I chant the priest’s part and the people chant the response including the Our Father.

The Brazilian Masses are at 8:00, 11:00 and 6:00 pm and embrace the unique devotions common to the Brazilian Catholics led by the CNBB—Conferencía Episcopal dos Bispos do Brasil which is the Brazilian Bishops Conference.

Being Labor Day Weekend, we had a smaller group at Mass. Fr. Francisco asked me to do the Brazilian Mass at 11:00 so I was not able to attend coffee and donuts but it appeared to be a smaller group than usual from what I could tell. We will see how things go next week.

I asked last week, this week and will do next week if any students or teachers are beginning school including the nearby Universities: Harvard, Tufts, BC, BU, Lesley, Emmanuel, etc. I will give them a blessing. Today, I gave a blessing to a student about to begin in the 2nd Grade and her parents. Her father teaches at one of the above universities.

Fr. Robert J Carr is pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Allston, MA

The parish podcast is at https://catholicaudiomedia.com