Fr. Fabian and Fr. Bruce Riebe honor the Feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, tracing the roots of the diaconate and the return of married clergy to the Byzantine Catholic priesthood. They preview the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and its Eastern counterpart, the Dormition of the Theotokos, unpacking the 1950 dogma and its meaning for the Church. The hosts close with a reflection on the Canaanite woman's bold, persistent faith from the Gospel of Matthew, encouraging listeners to trust God's will even when prayers seem delayed.
On this Feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, Fr. Fabian and Fr. Bruce Riebe open with a look at how men are formed for the priesthood in the Byzantine Catholic Church, from tonsure and the subdiaconate through ordination to the transitional diaconate. Fr. Bruce shares the history behind married Eastern Catholic clergy in North America, including the 1920s shift toward celibate-only ordinations under Bishop Takach and Pope Francis' 2014 decision restoring the ancient practice of ordaining married men to the priesthood. Fr. Bruce also reflects on his own path to ordination, first to the diaconate and then to the priesthood in August 1985.
The hosts then turn to the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15 — a holy day of obligation — walking through Pope Pius XII's 1950 dogmatic definition and what it means for the faithful. Fr. Bruce explains the Byzantine Catholic parallel, the Dormition of the Theotokos, including the tradition of the Apostle Thomas finding Mary's tomb filled with flowers rather than her body, and the custom of blessing flowers on the feast.
The episode closes with a reflection on Matthew 15:21-28, the Canaanite woman who pleads with Jesus to heal her daughter. Fr. Fabian and Fr. Bruce discuss her bold persistence in faith, what Jesus' initial silence and the "bread for the dogs" saying meant in context, and what her example teaches listeners about trusting God's will even when He seems slow to answer.
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