Category Archives: WDTPRS

EXCERPT:
Holy Mass is a great source of strength for everything else which we do in the course of our (hopefully) busy lives. Being properly disposed at Holy Mass is the key. There is physical disposition (observing the Eucharistic fast, being suitably dressed, etc.) and spiritual disposition (being in the state of grace, paying attention, etc.). The impact of Holy Mass resounds through the rest of our week, or day in the case of you daily Mass participants. Read More →

EXCERPT:
Spinning this out a little more, as an example I recall from Lutheran doctrine that a justified person remains forever a sinner because of concupiscence, which is not removed by baptism. Concupiscence describes the disordered desires and difficulty we have in controling our appetites we have because of the wounds to our will and intellect. The baptized person is described by Lutherans as simul justus et peccator … righteous and sinner at the same time. Read More →

EXCERPT:
I think you should all organize Ad tuendam fidem anniversary parties for tomorrow, 18 May. Bring a questionable book and… well… have fun.
Read More →

EXCERPT:
Remember that by the Sacrament of Confirmation, which deepens our baptismal character, we can draw great strength in moments of need. The Enemy and our own wounded nature will make some choices and actions difficult. Our hope and even our faith will be challenged. We can call upon, so to speak, that Sacrament of Confirmation, our “confirmed character” for those actual graces we need when we are facing something difficult. “O God, who by the sacrament of confirmation deepened and strengthened my bond with You and Your indwelling in me, in this moment of need give me the courage and force to do what I must do for Your glory and the sake of my soul’s salvation.” Read More →

EXCERPT:
We love and desire God’s will in the concrete situation, this concrete task. A challenge of living as a good Christian in “the world” is to love God in the details of life, especially when those details little to our liking. We must love him in this beggar, this annoying creep, not in beggars or creeps in general. We must love him in this act of fasting, not in fasting in general. This basket of laundry, this paperwork, this ICEL translation…. Hmmm…, didn’t I say it was a challenge? God’s will must not be reduced to something abstract, as if it is merely a “heavenly” or “ideal” reality. “Thy will (voluntas) be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Read More →

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  5th Sunday of Easter ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2003 Dare we to hope?  The 2 May 2003 edition of the Catholic Herald published in the UK provides a story by Simon Caldwell … Read More →

EXCERPT:
There are some interesting things here. First, perfice as the imperative “perfect” has the force of “bring to completion”. It could be perceived as “perfect” in an instant of time, by a sudden and all embracing act, or it could be construed as being an ongoing process of perfection, of bringing to completion. In a way the Paschale Mystery itself (remember that mysterium and sacramentum are pretty much interchangeable in these contexts) reflects this same problem of our perception of time and God’s work in time, or outside of time, or beyond time. The Paschal Mystery is both completed and not completed. Our redemption is “already” completed, but “not yet” completed. As Christians we live in this pilgrim life, this earthly continuum, in a constant state of “already but not yet”. Read More →

EXCERPT:
Though Christ freely shed His Blood for all who have ever lived or ever will live, in the end not all will accept the benefits Christ won by His Sacrifice. Many will accept them, but not all… not all. Read More →

Thursday of the 4th Week of EasterI liked today’s prayer enough to share what it really says. COLLECT:Deus, qui humanam naturamsupra primae originis reparas dignitatem,respice ad pietatis tuae ineffabile sacramentum,ut, quos regnerationis mysterio dignatus es innovare,in his dona tuae perpetuae … Read More →

Here is a second version.

Oratio pro interpretibus

Omnipotens et misericors Deus,
qui super Unigeniti Filii tui Ecclesiam
Sanctum Spiritum abundanter misisti,
tribue, quaesumus, inspirationem et fortitudinem
laborantibus magno cum studio
in preces eiusdem sanctae Ecclesiae Latinas
in omnium gentium sermones convertendo,
ut nos, superbia dissociati vetusta,
et orationes offere tibi valeamus decore
et unanimiter a te accipere salutifera.
Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Read More →