Category Archives: WDTPRS

EXCERPT:
There is a great difference between the peace the world can offer and the peace that God offers. This world of temporal goods (and ills) is passing and fragile, always susceptible to loss. The goods of heaven are lasting, enduring, solid and dependable. We must never fall into the sin of putting any created thing or person in the place which only eternal God may properly have. No infinite and passing thing can provide lasting joy or eternal peace. Any created thing can be lost through theft, wear and time. The vicissitudes of this passing world roar over us like an inexorable wave and can sweep away any material thing to which we have clung, perhaps even in idolatry. Our wealth, our family, our health, our appearance and our reputation can be taken in the blink of an eye. God alone endures. Read More →

Here are links to my articles on Epiphany which I posted last year. COLLECT (1) SUPER OBLATA (1) POST COMMUNION (1) Here are some other pieces of the puzzle: What Does the Prayer Really Say? Epiphany and Mary, Mother of … Read More →

Shall we have a look at the prayers for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God in the 2002MR? COLLECT (2002MR)Deus, qui salutis aeternae, beatae Mariae virginitate fecunda,humano generi praemia praestitisti,tribue, quaesumus, ut ipsam pro nobis intercedere sentiamus,per quam meruimus … Read More →

What Does the Prayer Really Say? Holy Family – Sunday in the Octave of Christmas ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2004 A liturgical “octave” is an eight day period following and including the feast. In a way, the Church … Read More →

What Does the Prayer Really Say? Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph – Sunday in the Octave of Christmas ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2006 Today is simultaneously the Sunday in the Octave of Christmas, Holy Family, and, … Read More →

EXCERPT:
How often do we hear about something or learn a new thing and then rush to know more, to have personal experience, to see? This is a paradigm for our life of faith. There is an interlocking cycle of hearing a proclamation (such as the Gospel at Mass, a homily, or a teaching of the Church) or observing the living testimony of a holy person’s life, and by this experience coming to know and then love the content of that proclamation or living testimony. The content is the Man God Jesus Christ. By knowing Him we come all the better to love Him and in loving Him we desire better to know Him. An act of faith, acceptance of the authority of the content of what we receive, opens unto previously unknown territory, a vast depth otherwise closed to us. For the non-believer, on the other hand, a miracle is simply something inexplicable having nothing of the supernatural. For a non-believer being nice or hard working can never ascend to true virtue or holiness. For him, the content of the Faith itself (both Jesus as well as what we learn and assent to) appears to be pleasant or interesting, but in the end remains naïve or foolish.
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EXCERPT:
Here is a thought for your participation at Mass. During most of the Mass you are called upon to participate actively by receptivity: you receive the Gospel rather than reading it aloud; you receive forgiveness for venial sins in the penitential rite; you receive (not take) Holy Communion. When today’s prayer “over the gifts” or Super oblata is spoken by the priest, you participate actively by giving, by uniting your own sacrifices to those of the priest at the altar who is alter Christus. The priest (Christ the Head) invites and you (Christ the Body) respond. Pour forth your sacrifices. Put them on the paten and into the chalice, so that you, like our model Mary, can be “refilled, made complete” by what they are transformed into, the Body and Blood of the living and true God, the Christ Child who is Coming. Read More →

EXCERPT:
Advent’s final days have come. The first candles on our Advent wreaths are now very small. From 17 December to Christmas Eve the haunting “O Antiphons” are sung for Vespers. They express our longing for the Coming of the Lord: “O come! O come!.. to teach us… redeem us… deliver us… ransom us… free us… enlighten us… save us… save us….” While we enjoy the season of preparation, let us not forget also to do some penance so that our Christmas joy is that much sweeter. Please accept my prayerful best wishes to you and yours for a very Merry Christmas.
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Here is the Collect for 20 December, during this period of intense prayer and longing for the Lord’s Coming. COLLECT:Deus, cuius ineffabile Verbum,Angelo nuntiante, Virgo immaculata suscepit,et, domus divinitatis effecta,Sancti Spiritus luce repletur,quaesumus, ut nos, eius exemplo,voluntati tuae humiliter adhaerere … Read More →

Here is the Collect for 19 December, duing this period of intense preparation before Christmas:COLLECT:Deus, qui splendorem gloriae tuaeper sacrae Virginis partum mundo dignatus es revelare,tribue, quaesumus, ut tantae incarnationis mysteriumet fidei integratate colamus,et devotio semper obsequio frequentemus. This is … Read More →