St. Joseph’s solemn feast is today! It’s a day of exuberant and Lent-defying celebration for the whole Church. And it’s a special joy for men everywhere who have the distinct privilege of being fathers—yes!—but also of being guardians of God’s beloved daughters.
Lent is a sacred season in the Christian tradition, a time to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice and prepare our hearts for Easter. Often, we think we must make grand gestures to grow closer to God. Yet sometimes it is the seemingly small daily practices—done with love and devotion—that draw us into a deeper relationship with Christ. Below is a set of 12 simple suggestions, each accompanied by reflections on why they matter and how you might incorporate them into your everyday life.
Colégio Diocesano de São José (CDSJ) recently marked a significant milestone in its rich history, celebrating its 94th anniversary this year with a heartfelt dinner attended by school administrators, teachers, alumni, and friends of the school’s six campuses. This joyous occasion not only highlighted the school’s enduring legacy but also fostered a sense of community among current and former members of CDSJ 1-2-3-4-5-6 family.
The fourth Sunday of Lent is called Laetare (Latin for “rejoice,” be glad”) Sunday because today’s theme reminds us of God’s infinite mercy and patience. We rejoice because we are reminded that in spite of our weaknesses and failures, God our Father is always awaiting our return.
It is the greatest symbol of the suffering Jesus underwent to redeem the sins of mankind. The Procession of the Passion of Our Lord made its way through the streets of Macau over the weekend, in a unique demonstration of faith. Thousands of people took part in the ceremony, announcing the triumph of Jesus over sin and despair. Among them were pilgrims from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Read by an increasingly broad and diverse audience around the world, Japanese manga has long held an enormous fascination among young and old alike. In addition to the unusual superhero adventures, this peculiar type of comic book, conceived in its own format, also portrays stories of ordinary men and women. In this way, countless episodes of Japanese history have been transmitted to school-age children; and now, the trend seems to extend to a type of character who, even under fierce persecution, remained firm in their faith in Christ: we are talking about the so-called Japanese “hidden Christians”. A phenomenon that originated in the 17th century, when Christianity – introduced with immense success in the Japanese archipelago a century earlier, thanks to the continued work of missionaries from the Portuguese Patronage of the East – was expressly prohibited, with all missionaries present there being ordered to be expelled. Many of them, for refusing this order, would later be martyred, and, even under torture, they never renounced their faith.
We have seen previously (Keeper, 4) that through the centuries, some Fathers of the Church have provided us with a record of the list of the Popes until their times. But we have not only the list of names, but also the biographies of the Popes through the centuries. The recognized source of these biographies, especially of the first 15 centuries of Christianity, is the Liber Pontificalis.
Explaining the nature of theological hope, we now focus on some of its notes or properties. The notes that help unveil the nature of Christian hope are many. For our part, we shall develop three significant properties of hope, namely certain hope, patient hope and prayerful hope.
On the second Sunday of Lent, the Church presents to us the Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Throughout the gospel narratives, we follow the accounts of the numerous miracles that Jesus performed: healing people from the most diverse diseases, showing His power over impure spirits and the forces of nature. However, in the miracle of the Transfiguration it is different, here we witness the narration of the Manifestation of God in himself. He is the subject of the prodigious action, but also its object. This miracle has two vertices, one that marks the past, showing that in Him is fulfilled what was partially announced with the laws brought by Moses and the prophecy of Elijah. Another vertex that points to the future, where Jesus shines for three disciples, anticipating what He will be like in eternity and the Church will share in the glory of the Lord.
Patriarchs of three indigenous Churches historically rooted in Syria signed a joint appeal to stop the “horrible massacres” perpetrated in recent days in several provinces of the country by jihadist militias, with a particularly serious impact on the communities of the Alawite minority. They denounce an “escalation of violence that has led to attacks against innocent civilians, including women and children.”