Being prepared or superficial?

The first two days of the Easter Triduum, Holy Friday and Holy Saturday, are truly singular from the point of view of the liturgical signs and their balance is rather delicate. It is expected that on these austere days, the candles will be completely extinguished and the altar will be bare. In its concrete realization, this indication undergoes difficulties that many have pointed out, which, however, must be overcome in order to give the two days a liturgical configuration that is truly consistent with the mystery celebrated and suitable for expressing it effectively.

LESSONS FROM THE MAGI (II) – Wise men kneel

Pope Francis declared on April 14, 2013 in St Paul’s Outside the Walls: “[W]e have to empty ourselves of the many small or great idols that we have and in which we take refuge, on which we often seek to base our security. They are idols that we sometimes keep well hidden; they can be ambition, a taste for success, placing ourselves at the center, the tendency to dominate others, the claim to be the sole masters of our lives, some sins to which we are bound, and many others. This evening I would like a question to resound in the heart of each one of you, and I would like you to answer it honestly: Have I considered which idol lies hidden in my life that prevents me from worshiping the Lord? Worshiping is stripping ourselves of our idols, even the most hidden ones, and choosing the Lord as the center, as the highway of our lives.”

BITE-SIZE THEOLOGY (16) Does the Bible tell us everything we need to know?

Some people think that the Bible suffices to know Christ and his doctrine. This is the belief on sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”). But the Bible itself does not say that it contains everything, that it should be the only rule of faith. In fact, the last chapter of the last verse of Saint John’s Gospel tells us: “But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).