Let me point out two more instances of Peter’s primacy over the other apostles. Chapter 12 of the Acts of the Apostles tells us how Herod, after executing John’s brother James, arrested Peter (verses 1-3), “but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church” (v 5). Peter was released by an angel, and when he visited those who were praying for him, he gave them instructions to tell the other disciples that he had been freed (cf Acts 12:17).
After trying to answer the question what is Hope, and the question who are those who hope, that is after reflecting on the nature of hope and on hopeful pilgrims on the journey of life, we try to answer, in the third column, the question: What do we hope for? Let us consider hereafter the main object of Christian hope and its secondary objects.
‘A different form of prayer’. This is how Kevin Duggan sums up the importance of sacred music, regardless of whether or not it is performed in a religious or ceremonial context. A renowned musician, the English composer performed earlier this month in Saint Joseph’s Seminary and Church, in a recital promoted by the Macau Diocesan Liturgical Commission. Director of Music at Scotland’s Dunblane Cathedral, the celebrated organist interpreted works by Henry Purcell, Johann Sebastian Bach and Louis Marchand, but also by contemporary composers such as Jesper Madsen or Hans André Stamm. In the end, Mr. Duggan spoke with “O Clarim” about his career and the transformative power of sacred music.
A group of local pilgrims will travel to the Vatican next summer to cross the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. Led by Father Daniel Ribeiro, the Holy Year pilgrimage is not restricted to Italy and the Holy See alone. Participants will retrace Saint Paul’s steps in Asia Minor and visit the world of a modern-day saint, Saint John Paul II.
The Holy Year celebrations of the Archdiocese of Jakarta coincide with the launching of the “Kabar Baik” (“Good News”) initiative. The newly created Catholic platform is dedicated to evangelization and the dissemination of religious content in the Bahasa language. The “Kabar Baik” platform aims in particular to inspire Catholic journalists to make the main messages of Pope Francis’ magisterium accessible and disseminated to a wider audience.