Fr. Thomas Petri OP

Dominican Friar | Doctor of Sacred Theology | Missionary of Mercy | Fidelity & Clarity on Catholic Doctrine & Life in the Church | Made in Detroit - Aged in KY

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

Dominican friar & theologian. Papal Missionary of Mercy.

I post on:
• Catholic doctrine (clear, faithful, practical)
• Prayer & the spiritual life
• Liturgy & life in the Church
• Culture in the light of the Catholic faith
• Occasional reflections from priestly life

Follow for fidelity, clarity, and insight into the Catholic faith.

[Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP @FrAquinasOP]

Requiescant in pace.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

St. Paul says today, ��Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” Christian knowledge isn’t given to us so that we can display sophistication by unsettling the faith of people who trust God.

That applies to preaching too. Not every historical-critical theory, disputed reconstruction, or ambiguity in a saint’s life needs to be dropped into a homily simply because the preacher knows it. The liturgy is not a seminar.

St. Paul warns that badly used “knowledge” can destroy “the brother for whom Christ died.” The purpose of Christian learning is to build up faith, purify it where necessary, and lead people more deeply into Christ. Its purpose isn’t to disturb piety merely to prove that we know better.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

Christians should know their sins, but we shouldn’t stop there.

The sacrament of confession is not meant to leave us dwelling on our guilt. We confess our sins so that we can receive mercy with gratitude and allow that mercy to reshape us.

The Christian life is not simply, “I’m a sinner,” but “I’m a sinner who lives from mercy.”

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

Christianity honors work, but it doesn’t idolize productivity. The dignity of work comes first from the dignity of the worker: work is for the human person, not the human person for work.

That’s why the Sabbath matters. Rest before God reminds us that our worth isn’t measured by what we produce, accomplish, or earn. Before we are laborers, we are His.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

Christianity honors work, but it doesn’t idolize productivity. The dignity of work comes first from the dignity of the worker: work is for the human person, not the human person for work.

That’s why the Sabbath matters. Rest before God reminds us that our worth isn’t measured by what we produce, accomplish, or earn. Before we are laborers, we are His.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

I turn off when a homilist domesticates Christ and the Gospel by reducing the Christian life to good advice about how to live.

Of course, Christian morality should be intelligible and even attractive to those who don’t believe. Grace perfects nature; it doesn’t destroy it. The Christian life is the fulfillment of what human beings were created to be.

But preaching to the baptized should make clear what is distinctively Christian about that life. Christ doesn’t merely teach us a better way to live. By grace, He gives us a new life—a participation in His own life—that enables us to live as He teaches.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

One of the recurring temptations in preaching is to reduce the teaching of Christ to moral truisms that almost anyone could accept: don’t hold grudges, communicate directly, forgive, move on. None of that’s wrong, but none of it requires Christ.

The Gospel demands more because it reveals more. Christ isn’t merely giving advice for a happier life; He’s showing us the form that life in grace takes—His own charity becoming the principle of how we think, will, forgive, and love.

That is why today’s Gospel isn’t really about conflict management, emotional health, or “being the bigger person.” It’s about whether the grace of Christ can so conform my will to His that even after I’ve been wronged, I still desire the offender’s conversion, holiness, and salvation because that’s what Christ desires.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

I see we’re going for the galactic empire look.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

There are two people in the confessional. I’m speaking more to confessors here than to penitents.

Of course, there are exceptions. But being pastoral and gentle also means respecting the other penitents waiting in line.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

It’s Saturday afternoon, and many parishes offer the sacrament of confession during these hours. Inevitably, some penitents will leave without receiving the sacrament because time runs out and the priest has to leave to celebrate Mass.

Often this happens because individual confessions are taking much longer than they should.

I’ll say it directly: a typical confession with a well-prepared penitent should take about 2–3 minutes. If the confessor needs to prompt the penitent or offer some counsel, perhaps 4–5 minutes.

A 10–15 minute confession should be exceedingly rare, not routine.

Confession is not counseling.

Confession is not spiritual direction.

For many Catholics, confession may be the only occasion they have to speak privately with a priest or receive spiritual counsel. That’s understandable.

But more involved spiritual direction belongs outside the sacrament. A priest can—and should—invite the penitent to make an appointment with his pastor or another priest he trusts.

Keeping confession focused isn’t being hurried or impersonal. It respects the sacrament—and the people still waiting in line.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

Today’s Gospel is difficult to preach because Christ places a surprising responsibility on the person who has been wronged: go to the offender. The real challenge is not simply how to manage conflict, but whether charity still makes us care about the conversion and salvation of someone who’s hurt us.

The safer homiletic route is to reduce the passage to communication skills, avoiding gossip, resolving disagreements, or protecting community harmony. All of that may be useful, but it can skirt the harder question Christ actually puts before us: do we want to “gain our brother,” or merely to be vindicated?

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

@CallyGingrich @newtgingrich I’m sure, but I’m always a bit heartbroken when I enter these Roman parish churches to see things added to the sanctuary in the last 50 years that clearly contrast the architectural and theological grammar of a building hundreds and hundreds of years old.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

@siobhanoshea11 Completely agree. There are ways to prompt a penitent gently and pastorally to be more direct. I’m sorry a brother priest did that to him. Priests have bad days too and can be impatient. That’s not an excuse, but a request for your prayers.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

It’s Saturday afternoon, and many parishes offer the sacrament of confession during these hours. Inevitably, some penitents will leave without receiving the sacrament because time runs out and the priest has to leave to celebrate Mass.

Often this happens because individual confessions are taking much longer than they should.

I’ll say it directly: a typical confession with a well-prepared penitent should take about 2–3 minutes. If the confessor needs to prompt the penitent or offer some counsel, perhaps 4–5 minutes.

A 10–15 minute confession should be exceedingly rare, not routine.

Confession is not counseling.

Confession is not spiritual direction.

For many Catholics, confession may be the only occasion they have to speak privately with a priest or receive spiritual counsel. That’s understandable.

But more involved spiritual direction belongs outside the sacrament. A priest can—and should—invite the penitent to make an appointment with his pastor or another priest he trusts.

Keeping confession focused isn’t being hurried or impersonal. It respects the sacrament—and the people still waiting in line.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

And the 1983 Code of Canon Law makes it even more clear by specifying that we’re talking about the approved liturgical books.

Canon 846: “In celebrating the sacraments the liturgical books approved by competent authority are to be observed faithfully; accordingly, no one is to add, omit, or alter anything in them on one’s own authority.”

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

It should not be assumed that a long confession is due to the penitent. There are two people in the confessional.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

Years ago, I was at the Grand Ole Opry with my mother. We were in the third row or so. Keith Urban appeared without any announcement and played a few songs with no backup, just his guitar. It was impressive.

He told us that he decided to play a little something because Nicole’s family was visiting and they had wanted to see the Grand Ole Opry.

The shouting of the middle aged women around us, the things they were saying, and then screaming “Thank you, Nicole!” as if she had brought him out to be gawked at. It was embarrassing and disappointing.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

@DucreauxJoseph @americamag Yes. But Many folks are not comfortable with that conversation, which is why I suggested the letter.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

The Overton window has shifted. We’ve been saying this for years. Perhaps hearing it from @americamag may break through to the clerics who still need to hear this.

[America Magazine @americamag]

Priests who depart from the rubrics of the Mass may mean well. But Catholics should consider why both Popes Leo and Francis have called such deviations a problem.
https://t.co/cG2kTZd6qh

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

@DucreauxJoseph @americamag I’d write your pastor a letter that asks him not to do that. CC the bishop. Depending on his response, write to the bishop directly and CC the pastor.

[Fr. Thomas Petri OP @PetriOP]

Confession: I was at this game with another priest.

Reader, I am ashamed to tell you that we left after the 8th inning.

[Kev @klwoodjr]

7 years ago the Nats completed one of the greatest 9th inning comebacks in MLB history against the Mets

Here’s the 9th inning from start to finish