Seasons, Symbols, and Saints
 From the very beginning Christians knew that they were all connected in Jesus through the Holy Spirit. We are....
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 September 2010 06:51 |
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From approximately the 5th century, each August 15, Catholics have observed the Dormition (Falling Asleep) or the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This Feast celebrates...
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Last Updated on Sunday, 08 August 2010 10:48 |
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It is summer time and we think of ball games, the beach, Mission Trips. If you are involved in these or other activities, the major seasons of the Liturgical year are most likely not on your mind. For this church year the major celebrations are over. We are in Ordinary Time...Tempus Per Annum (time throughout the year). This is the period of time outside of the distinctive liturgical seasons and runs 33 or 34 weeks in the Church year. The period of Ordinary Time Falls between Christmas Season and Lent and between Easter and Advent. The First Sunday of Advent begins each new Church Year.
Ordinary Time, meaning ordered or numbered time, is celebrated in two segments: From the Monday following the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord(the Sunday following January 6, the First Sunday of Ordinary Time) up through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins and from Pentecost Monday through Evening Prayer on the Saturday before the First Sunday of Advent.
The rhythm of the liturgical seasons reflects the rhythm of life. Much as in our own lives, celebrations of anniversaries, births and times of quiet growth, follow the Church calendar. This quiet time is a time for reflecting on and celebrating our call to follow Jesus day by day. In order for us to mature in our spiritual life and increase in faith we must come down off the mountain peaks of Easter and Christmas and walk through the meadows of Ordinary time.
Scripture readings for Lent, Easter and Advent have prominent themes. During Ordinary time we do not see these themes but rather a continuous fashion of reading is presented. Starting the Second Sunday of Ordinary time the proclamation is concerning the ministry, life and preaching of Jesus. We have celebrated the birth of the Messiah during the Christmas season. We walk a penitential path during Lent and Rejoice during Easter Season. These seasons are followed by the reflective time of learning from Christ's example how to live our lives as his disciples in our world. Sunday by Sunday, week by week the people of faith, the Pilgrim Church marks her journey through the Tempus Per Annum as together we process through time toward eternity.
FAST FACTS:
The Feast of Christ the King is the last Sunday of Ordinary Time and of the Church Year.
The liturgical color green, for Ordinary Time is a sign of hope.
The Chi Rho, the symbol for Ordinary Time, is the Christian Symbol that dates to the early Church. It is comprised of the first two letters of the Greek word for Messiah, Christos-the letter Chi looks like the letter "X" and the letter Rho looks like the letter "P". This became the symbol representing Jesus Christ. |
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Last Updated on Sunday, 08 August 2010 10:35 |
 This is the time of year when we pause to think about who we are as a nation. We remember those who walked before us and brought us to the point of being able to celebrate our independence politically and religiously. With all our foibles the USA is still a place where people enjoy great freedom. People are drawn to our country from around the world, coming together to make up the great mosaic of our country. Those of various ethnic, social, and religious backgrounds have the freedom to worship in the way that best expresses their belief in their personal reality of God.
We, as Roman Catholic Christians, have a special worship space of national recognition. It is the "home" of the Patroness of the United States- the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception. Her "home" is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Among the ten largest churches in the world, it is the largest Roman Catholic Church in the United States and North America.
Located in the North East Section of Washington DC, the Basilica is a breathtaking place of worship, pilgrimage, evangelization and reconciliation. It is designated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as a National Sanctuary of Prayer and Pilgrimage. It is the nation's preeminent Marion Shrine dedicated to the patroness of the United States. It is affectionately referred to as "America's Catholic Church."
This one of a kind, Byzantine-Romanesque superstructure is home to over 70 chapels and oratories that relate to the people, cultures, and traditions that are the fabric of the Catholic Faith of our great nation.
Prayer for our Nation
Our Father, you chose Mary as the fairest of your daughters.
Holy Spirit, you chose her as your spouse.
God the Son, you chose her as your mother.
We put the United States into Mary Immaculate's hands
that she may present the country to you, our God.
We thank you for the great resources of this land and for the freedom "which has been its heritage".
Through her intercession grant us and all nations your peace.
Inspire our President and all the officials of our government to serve us with integrity.
Grant us a fruitful economy born of justice and charity.
Mary, our Mother and patroness of our land, we give ourselves to you. Pray that we, always acting according to the divine will, may live and die pleasing in God's site. Amen
Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington DC |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 15 July 2010 15:30 |
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 The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Quoting Pope Pius XII states, "Jesus has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that ...love.with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings without exception"(No 478 ). Catechism of the Catholic Church.
June 11, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The prayers and devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus appear to have started about the year 1672 based on the repeated visions of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun, in France.
During these apparitions Jesus explained to her the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as He wanted people to practice it. He asked to be honored in the symbol of His Heart of flesh; he asked for acts of repartition, for frequent Communion, Communion on the First Friday of the month, and the keeping of the Holy Hour.
This devotion originally a private devotion of the people, was first celebrated in France. In 1856, Pope Pius IX, at the request of the French Bishops extended the feast to the Universal Church. It is celebrated after the octave of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, or 19 days after Pentecost Sunday.
Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
O most holy heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore you, I love you, and with lively sorrow for my sins I offer you this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to your will. Grant, Good Jesus, that I may live in you and for you. Protect me in the midst of danger. Comfort me in my afflictions. Give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, your blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Amen |
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Last Updated on Monday, 28 June 2010 13:57 |
 Formally known as Corpus Christi, Latin for the Body of Christ, June 6 we celebrate the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Jesus invites us to particpate in the meal where He, Himself is the food and drink. At the Last Supper he gave bread to the disciples and said, this is my body and the cup of wine he shared saying this is my blood. We are told by Our Lord that unless we eat His body and drink His blood we will not have life in him. In the old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice as a sign of grateful acknowledgement to God as Creator of all. Melchizedek, who was a priest and a king, offered sacrifice of bread and wine to God. When the Israelites wandered without food in the wilderness, God gave them manna, the bread from heaven to keep them alive. This miracle is often recalled by the people of Israel that their very soul and life depended on the bread of the word of God. From St Paul we learn that the cup of blessing is the participation in the blood of Christ and the bread we break is the participation in the body of Christ. Jesus, Himself, tell us he is the bread of life.
Jesus also tells us that those who eat His flesh and drink His blood will have eternal life. He will raise them up on the last day. He adds to that "for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink." Jesus lets us know as we partake in the Eucharistic Banquet we participate in His Divinity. This is our call to assimilate totally into our very selves all that He teaches, His vision, His values, His understanding and purpose of life. This is not to be an isolated action, however. As Jesus gives Himself in total love for us we in turn give of ourselves to those around us. We become His hands and feet in our world. We strive to live His values, live with His understanding and with our purpose of life to spread His love. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 28 June 2010 14:02 |
May 23, Pentecost Sunday marked the end of the Easter Season and the Church entered Ordinary Time. Here we are a bit more than a week later, on May 31, we celebrate one of the beautiful Marian Feast Days of the Church year. Through reflecting on this encounter we see Ordinary Time is anything but ordinary!
After the angel Gabriel had announced to Mary that she was to become the mother of Our Lord, Mary went from Galilee to Judea to visit her cousin Elizabeth, soon to be the mother of John the Baptist. This visit is recorded in Luke 1:39-56. Elizabeth greeted Mary with the words, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" Mary burst forth with the song of praise which we call the Magnificat, beginning, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord." We are told that even John the Baptist, still unborn, leaped for joy in his mother's womb. Thus we are shown, side by side the two women, one seemingly too old to have a child, but destined to bear the last prophet of the Old Covenant, of the age that was passing away: and the other woman, seemingly not ready to have a child, but destined to bear the One Who was himself the beginning of the New Covenant, the age that would not pass away.
The Magnificat (Latin:magnifies), also called the Canticle of Mary, is recorded in the Gospel of Luke(1:46-55). It is the Virgin Mary's joyous prayer in response to her cousin, Elizabeth's greeting (Luke:41-45) This great hymn forms part of the Church's prayer in the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the Magnificat as "the song both of the Mother of God and the Church"[CCC 2619], and explains the prayer's significance:[CCC 2617]
"Mary's prayer is revealed to us at the dawning of the fullness of time. Before the Incarnation of the Son of God and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, her prayer cooperates in a unique way with the Father's plan of loving kindness: at the Annunciation, for Christ's conception; at Pentecost for the formation of the Church, His Body. In the faith of His humble handmaid, the gift of God found the acceptance He had awaited from the beginning of time. She whom the Almight made "full of grace" responds by offering her whole being: Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to Thy word" . "Fiat":this is Christian pryayer: to be wholly God's because He is Wholly ours. [CCC2617]
The Magnificat
My Soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, My spirit rejoices in God my Savior:
He has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
The Almighty has done great things for me and holy is His name.
He has mercy on those who fear him,
from generation to generation
He has shown strength with his arm
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
Casting down the mighty from their thrones
and lifting up the lowly.
He has filled th hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the aid of his servant Isreal,
to remember his promise of mercy.
The promise made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever
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Last Updated on Monday, 28 June 2010 14:00 |
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