Faith & Life

BITE-SIZE THEOLOGY (145) What makes a good confessor?

September 24, 2021

“The confessor is not the master of God’s forgiveness, but its servant. The minister of this sacrament should unite himself to the intention and charity of Christ (Presbyterorum Ordinis 13). He should have a proven knowledge of Christian behavior, experience of human affairs, respect and sensitivity toward the one who has fallen; he must love the truth, be faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, and lead the penitent with patience toward healing and full maturity. He must pray and do penance for his penitent, entrusting him to the Lord’s mercy.”

Faith & Life, World

Missionaries From Macau to the World: Saint Lazarus Islands (62)

September 23, 2021

Investigators Jin Guo Ping and Wu Zhiliang refer us to the Guangdong Tongzhi (Guangdong General Chronicle) by Jin Guangzhu: “On the 5th day of the 8th moon of the 26th year (July 24, 1598) of the Wanli Reign (1573 – 1615), people from Lução suddenly came to anchor in Haojing’ao (Baía de Vieira, Macau), requesting the presentation of tributes. The governor of Guangdong, deeming their entry illegal, decided to expel them. The Portuguese of Macau also reinforced their defense, preventing the landing of the luções.

Faith & Life

Christmas day

September 23, 2021

Coming back from school, my son, who is in elementary school, told me: “Dad, today the teacher told us that Jesus was not born on December 25th. That the cold and frost that the Child suffered is all an invention, because the first Christians who celebrated Christmas, took it from an ancient pagan festival …” I have not been able to answer this question. Indeed, this news has shaken me too. Can you tell me something about it?

Faith & Life

[Sep 23] ST PADRE PIO OF PIETRELCINA: From an early age he felt a mystery to himself

September 22, 2021

Padre Pio felt a mystery to himself. When he was prevented from celebrating the Eucharist with the faithful and attending confessions, he confided to someone close: “To take away the ministry of the altar and confessions from a priest means to kill him!”

Faith & Life, World

Usain Bolt, world’s fastest man – “With God all is possible” (2)

September 22, 2021

There are the rare rags to riches examples of extraordinary successes to escape from poverty and limited access to good education. Usain Bolt came from a poor small town next to the “bush” in developing Jamaica. He neither had early educational, nor other, privileges, so how did he become a legendary sprinter?

Faith & Life

[Sept 21] St Matthew: from tax collector to disciple of the Lord

September 20, 2021

Matthew’s name (in Greek = Matháios) sounds like the word “disciple” (in Greek = mathetés). And this was what possibly led the evangelist to elect Matthew to replace the tax collector named Levi, thus better representing the discipleship mission.

Faith & Life

BITE-SIZE THEOLOGY (144) What elements must be present to make a confession valid?

September 17, 2021

The rite of the Sacrament of Confession has evolved over the years, yet the essential elements have always been the same.

Faith & Life

Music and Sacred: some considerations

September 17, 2021

In recent decades, the use of the term “sacred music” to denote the music that is used for the liturgy has often been contested, preferring terms such as ritual, liturgical music and so on. Certainly, for some the term “sacred music” meant the monumentalization of certain repertoires as untouchable or intangible, not as models as they should be.

Faith & Life, World

Missionaries From Macau to the World – Saint Lazarus Island (61)

September 17, 2021

As soon as João da Gama arrived in Acapulco (March 1590) his ship and the entire crew were seized, thus complying with royal legislation. The assets of the Portuguese captain, “valued at 140,000 pesos,” were also taken from him and his court case went to the Casa de la Contratación in Seville, where he was to be tried.

Faith & Life

Giovannino Guareschi, a real Catholic writer

September 16, 2021

Giovannino Guareschi was not only a great Catholic writer and humorist, but what is even more significant is that he is a great Catholic philosopher. Certainly his was not a philosophy in the common sense of the term: he never formulated a systematic thought; but it was still a very specific thought. It was the thought of “common sense,” that is, an authentically Catholic thought.