While the world changes, the cross stands firm
Existence
Every morning Bernard would ask himself,
"Why have I come here?", and then <would> remind himself of his main duty - lead a holy life.
Happiness
You are unhappy? Think: There must be an obstacle between God and me. You will seldom be wrong.
Obedience
By your work you show what you love and what you know. When you observe true obedience with prudence and enthusiasm, it is clear that you wisely pick the most delightful and nourishing fruit of divine Scripture
Humility
"Without me, you can do nothing, our Lord has told us.
And he has said it so that you and I won't credit ourselves with successes that are his. 'Sine me, nihil!'"
Practice of Holiness
"You must be holy in the way that God asks you to be holy. God does not ask you to be a Trappist monk or a hermit. He wills that you sanctify the world and your everyday life."
Holy Father's Monthly Prayer Intentions
What is the process in the preparation of the prepared prayer intentions?
The faithful from around the world suggest papal prayer intentions to the international office of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network in Rome. Through prayerful discernment the international office selects a large number of them and submits them to the Vatican for further selection, with the Pope making the final selection. The Vatican then entrusts to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network the official set of monthly prayer intentions, which are then translated into the major world languages and published in print and digital formats.
for MARCH
For victims of abuse
We pray for those who have suffered harm from members of the Church; may they find within the Church herself a concrete response to their pain and suffering.
for APRIL
For a culture of peace and non-violence
We pray for the spread of peace and non-violence, by decreasing the use of weapons by States and citizens.
Vatican Documents:
Role of Christ, the Church and other religions: Notification
General Reflections:
This week in the Church Liturgical Year
Readings: Sundays-Year C / Weekdays-Cycle 1
Season of LENT
We officially begin Lent on a Wednesday, traditionally called Ash Wednesday. This year it falls on 22 February. Lent prepares us for the joy of Easter on 9 April.
The 40 days of the Lenten season traditionally extend until Holy Saturday (excluding Sundays) but liturgical reform placing special emphasis to the Sacred Triduum (Eucharistic Celebration of the Lord's Last Supper or Holy Thursday Mass, Good Friday Service and Holy Saturday Vigil Mass) now actually count to 37 days, up to Wednesday (inclusive) in Holy Week.
However, the spirit of Lenten abstinence is observed until midnight of Holy Saturday.
Fast & Abstinence (Canons 1251, 1252)
(1). This is obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
(2). It is incumbent on all Christians aged between 18 and 60 years; all those below 18 but above 14 are encouraged to do so.
(3). Regarding the Laws of Fast and Abstinence, if one is unable to observe such, they may do penance in one of the following or similar ways:
[a]. Attendance at Mass
[b]. A work of mercy, eg:
------giving alms to the poor
------visiting the sick
[c]. An exercise of piety, eg:
------observing and praying at the Stations of the Cross
------visits to the Blessed Sacrament
------praying the rosary
------depriving oneself of some enjoyable food
------abstaining from alcohol or smoking
------giving up a television or video show.
RESOURCES
Jesus Christ
The following six articles are from the Knights of Columbus Home Study Course.
The Divinity of Christ
"Attack each of these evasions — Jesus as the good man. Jesus as the lunatic, Jesus as the liar, Jesus as the man who never claimed divinity, Jesus as the mystic — take away these flight squares, and there is only one square left for the unbeliever's king to move to. And on that square waits checkmate. And a joyous mating it is. The whole argument is really a wedding invitation." - Peter Kreeft, “The Divinity of Christ.” (Ch 8, 59-63 in Fundamentals of the Faith, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988)
The doctrine of Christ's divinity (that He is indeed God) is the central Christian doctrine, for it is like a skeleton key that opens all the others. Christians have not independently reasoned out and tested each of the teachings of Christ received via Bible and Church, but believe them all on his authority.
The argument the early apologists used to defend this apparently indefensible doctrine has become a classic one.
Unbelievers almost always say he was a good man, not a bad man; that he was a great moral teacher, a sage, a philosopher, a moralist, and a prophet, not a criminal, not a man who deserved to be crucified.
But a good man is the one thing he could not possibly have been according to simple common sense and logic. For he claimed to be God.
Now what would we think of a person who went around making these claims today? Certainly not that he was a good man or a sage.
Only two possibilities: he either speaks the truth or not.
> If he speaks the truth, he is God and the case is closed. We must believe him and worship him.
> If he does not speak the truth, then he is not God but a mere man. But a mere man who wants you to worship him as God is not a good man. He is a very bad man indeed, either morally or intellectually. And taking the argument further logically...If he knows that he is not God, then he is morally bad, a liar trying deliberately to deceive you into blasphemy. If he does not know that he is not God, if he sincerely thinks he is God, then he is intellectually bad, in fact, insane. Read the full article.
Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Mother of God
Mary's Role In Salvation: Mary's utterance "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord..." (Luke 1:38) was that unique assent that completed salvation history. As the new Eve, conceived without sin, and as Christ's first disciple, her simple exclamation of discipleship (Luke 9:23; Luke 5:27-28) was the most profound act of faith that continues in time as we are in turn challenged to say "yes" to God in every instance of our daily life.
The Saints
The Angels
The Angels by Pascal P Parente
Church Liturgy
General
Christian Blogs & Websites:
Know Thy Church History: We focus on General or Ecumenical Councils and state why indeed we cover this summarised means of understanding Church history.
Western GCs: 9 to 21 (incl last held, 21st GC Vatican Council II)
Spotlight on Contemplative Orders:
New Melleray is a Cistercian (Trappist) monastery located in the rolling farmland south of Dubuque, Iowa. Currently, about 30 monks live, work and pray at New Melleray.
The monks of New Melleray are Catholics, professing the Rule of St Benedict in the spirit of the founders of Citeaux, as handed on in the tradition of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, within a community wholly orientated to a contemplative life of prayer.
The Carthusians are a Christian religious order founded by St Bruno in 1084. There exist both Carthusian monks and nuns. They follow their own Rule, called the Statutes, rather than the Rule of St Benedict (as is often erroneously reported) and combine eremitical (hermit-like) and cenobitic monastic life.
Carthusians are sometimes considered the highest order of the Catholic Church, in terms of strictness (this refers to the idea that one is only allowed to switch your religious order if you are going to one that is more strict, and the top being the Carthusians). More...
The Religious Orders:
The differences between religious orders are fewer than one might initially expect. For someone who is beginning their discernment process, this may come as a surprise, as it is easy to feel a little overwhelmed at the number of religious orders in existence today (Franciscans, Benedictines, Dominicans, Carmelites, Trappists, etc.). More...
