The Lord Jesus is present in the past, in the present, and in the future.
Day: December 14, 2021
Father Christmas, St Nicholas
Who was the man who became Father Christmas, Santa Claus and why? And why does he have two tombs in dispute?
Characteristics of a spirituality for our time
Contemporary Christian spirituality attempts at avoiding two extremes: “spiritualism” (the individualistic and escapist fuga mundi and contemptus mundi) on one hand, and “activism” (human and social promotion disconnected from prayer and contemplation) on the other.
Word or Sacrament?
For several decades the emphasis has been on the “Word” and in the parish, the group of the Word is the most prestigious. Even in the Mass, the liturgy of the Word seems to be the most important part, to the point that, often, the Eucharistic liturgy runs away like a question of the clock. It seems that the Sacraments are secondary and many have forgotten them even in practice. Is this the right path, or should we also go back to talking about the sacraments?
Meeting the world
Those who see the encounter with the world as one of the means to understand the crisis in the Church would not be wrong. Certainly one cannot understand the Church outside of the context of the world, as it must be right where the message of salvation it bears is most needed. But she must always be vigilant so that, by not conforming to the mentality of the time, she is not a slave to the ways of the world and currents of thought that contradict her saving mission. So, as the healthy tradition teaches, in the world but not of the world.
Simbang Gabi – a tradition dating back to the 8th century Rorate Mass
The Simbang Gabi was not actually conceived in the Philippines. It traces its roots to the so-called Rorate Masses in Europe that date back to the 8th century, when there was a custom of celebrating Masses in honor of our Lady in the time of Advent. These Masses were called “Rorate Masses” because the entrance antiphon began with the words “Rorate caeli désuper et nubes pluant justum” (“Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just”).