Leader: We adore Thee, O Christ, and bless Thee.
All: Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
Jesus, you stand all alone before Pilate. Nobody speaks up for you. Nobody helps defend you. You devoted your entire life to helping others, listening to the smallest ones, caring for those who were ignored by others. They don't seem to remember that as they prepare to put you to death.
As a child, sometimes I feel alone. Sometimes I feel that others don't stand up for me and defend me when I am afraid. Sometimes I don't feel like I am treated fairly, especially if I am scolded or corrected.
As an adult, sometimes I feel abandoned and afraid as well. Sometimes I too, feel like I am treated unfairly or blamed for things unfairly. I have a hard time when people criticize me at home or at work.
Help me be grateful for what you did for me. Help me to accept criticism and unfairness as you did, and not complain. Help me pray for those who have hurt me.
My Jesus, often have I signed the death warrant by my sins; save me by Thy death from that eternal death which I have so often deserved.
Our Father.... Hail Mary.... Glory Be to the Father....
Leader: Jesus Christ Crucified.
All: Have mercy on Us.
Leader: May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, Rest in peace.
All: Amen.
Source from: www.catholic.org
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Ash Wednesday (Fast and pray)
This is the first day of the forty days of prayer and fasting commonly called Lent. This feast is celebrated on the Wednesday in the 7th week before Easter.
This feast falls on different days depending on the date of Easter.
Jesus also was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and He was tempted by the Devil for forty days there and in those days he ate nothing (Luke 4:1).
Moses also fasted for forty days to repent for the making of the Golden Calf by the Israelites.
Jesus did this fasting before starting His ministry.
On Ash Wednesday Catholics between age 18 and 59 are required to observe fasting by consuming one full meal or two small meals that should not equal to one full meal.
Persons whose health condition does not permit fasting are exempted from fasting. Abstinence from meat and other non-vegetarian items should also be avoided on this day.
In some countries Christian celebrate the previous day of Ash Wednesday as Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, when they eat pancakes consisting of fatty food items.
On Ash Wednesday Catholic Christians attend church services in the morning. The priest ash is imposed in the sign of a cross on the forehead of every faithful.
When applying the ash on the forehead of every faithful, the priest used to say that ‘Remember that you are made of dust and you shall return to dust’ or ‘Turn away from Sin and believe in the Gospel’.
The ash for the ceremony was obtained by burning the palm leaves used and blessed during the previous year’s palm Sunday and kept in the houses of the Catholic people.
Dusting with ashes is a way of expressing repentance and sorrow for one’s sins and faults.
We can study in the Holy Bible the practice of using ashes for repentance and mourning in many places especially in:
Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1, Job 2:8, Daniel 9:3 and Matthew 11:21.
Ash Wednesday is celebrated on various dates in February and March. The dates of celebration of Ash Wednesday for the next 10 years will be:
13th Feb 2013
5th March 2014
18th Feb 2015
10th Feb 2016
1st March 2017
14th Feb 2018
6th March 2019
26th Feb 2020
17th Feb 2021
2nd March 2022.
The earliest Ash Wednesday occurred on 4th Feb, 1818 and it will occur on 4th Feb again only in the year 2285.
The latest Ash Wednesday occurred on 10th March 1943 and will again occur in the year 2038.
Very rarely Ash Wednesday occurs on 29th Feb, in the leap year. It will occur again the year 2096.
Ash Wednesday is celebrated by catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist and Anglican churches.
This feast falls on different days depending on the date of Easter.
Jesus also was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and He was tempted by the Devil for forty days there and in those days he ate nothing (Luke 4:1).
Moses also fasted for forty days to repent for the making of the Golden Calf by the Israelites.
Jesus did this fasting before starting His ministry.
On Ash Wednesday Catholics between age 18 and 59 are required to observe fasting by consuming one full meal or two small meals that should not equal to one full meal.
Persons whose health condition does not permit fasting are exempted from fasting. Abstinence from meat and other non-vegetarian items should also be avoided on this day.
In some countries Christian celebrate the previous day of Ash Wednesday as Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, when they eat pancakes consisting of fatty food items.
On Ash Wednesday Catholic Christians attend church services in the morning. The priest ash is imposed in the sign of a cross on the forehead of every faithful.
When applying the ash on the forehead of every faithful, the priest used to say that ‘Remember that you are made of dust and you shall return to dust’ or ‘Turn away from Sin and believe in the Gospel’.
The ash for the ceremony was obtained by burning the palm leaves used and blessed during the previous year’s palm Sunday and kept in the houses of the Catholic people.
Dusting with ashes is a way of expressing repentance and sorrow for one’s sins and faults.
We can study in the Holy Bible the practice of using ashes for repentance and mourning in many places especially in:
Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1, Job 2:8, Daniel 9:3 and Matthew 11:21.
Ash Wednesday is celebrated on various dates in February and March. The dates of celebration of Ash Wednesday for the next 10 years will be:
13th Feb 2013
5th March 2014
18th Feb 2015
10th Feb 2016
1st March 2017
14th Feb 2018
6th March 2019
26th Feb 2020
17th Feb 2021
2nd March 2022.
The earliest Ash Wednesday occurred on 4th Feb, 1818 and it will occur on 4th Feb again only in the year 2285.
The latest Ash Wednesday occurred on 10th March 1943 and will again occur in the year 2038.
Very rarely Ash Wednesday occurs on 29th Feb, in the leap year. It will occur again the year 2096.
Ash Wednesday is celebrated by catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist and Anglican churches.
Who created the World?
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the one and invisible principle of creation even though the work of creating the world is particularly attributed to God the Father. The world was created for the glory of God who wished to show forth and communicate his goodness, truth and beauty.
God alone, who is beyond time and space created the world out of nothing and called all things into being. Everything that exists depends on God and continues in being only because God wills it.
Catholic faith is open to findings and hypotheses of sciences. That is why a Christian can accept the theory of evolution as a helpful explanatory model, provided that one does not fall into the heresy of evolutionism, which views man as the random product of biological processes. The world is not product of chance. For us, God is the primary cause of the world.
Therefore, God created the world freely with wisdom and love. The world is not the result of any necessity, or of blind fate, or of chance. God created a world which is ordered and good... and he preserves his creation and sustains it.
God alone, who is beyond time and space created the world out of nothing and called all things into being. Everything that exists depends on God and continues in being only because God wills it.
Catholic faith is open to findings and hypotheses of sciences. That is why a Christian can accept the theory of evolution as a helpful explanatory model, provided that one does not fall into the heresy of evolutionism, which views man as the random product of biological processes. The world is not product of chance. For us, God is the primary cause of the world.
Therefore, God created the world freely with wisdom and love. The world is not the result of any necessity, or of blind fate, or of chance. God created a world which is ordered and good... and he preserves his creation and sustains it.
Who Instituted the Sacrament of Penance?
Jesus himself instituted the sacrament of Penance when he showed himself to his apostles on Easter day and commanded them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn20:22a-23.
Nowhere did Jesus express more beautifully what happens in the sacrament of Penance than in the parable of the Prodigal Son: We go astray, we are lost and can no longer cope. Yet our Father waits for us with great, indeed, infinite longing; he forgives us when we come back; he takes us in again, forgives our sins.
Jesus himself forgave the sins of many individuals; it was more important to him than working miracles.
Jesus forgave sins in power of the Holy Spirit, and he handed the power on to his Apostles. We fall into the arms of our heavenly Father when we go to a Priest and confess. God alone can forgive sins. Jesus could say “Your sins are forgiven” (Mk 2:5) only because Jesus has given them that authority.
Many people say, “I can go directly to God; why do I need a priest?” God, though, wants it otherwise. We rationalize our sins away and like to sweep things under the rug. That is why God wants us to tell our sins and to acknowledge them in a personal encounter. Therefore, the following words from the Gospel are true of priests: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20:23).
Nowhere did Jesus express more beautifully what happens in the sacrament of Penance than in the parable of the Prodigal Son: We go astray, we are lost and can no longer cope. Yet our Father waits for us with great, indeed, infinite longing; he forgives us when we come back; he takes us in again, forgives our sins.
Jesus himself forgave the sins of many individuals; it was more important to him than working miracles.
Jesus forgave sins in power of the Holy Spirit, and he handed the power on to his Apostles. We fall into the arms of our heavenly Father when we go to a Priest and confess. God alone can forgive sins. Jesus could say “Your sins are forgiven” (Mk 2:5) only because Jesus has given them that authority.
Many people say, “I can go directly to God; why do I need a priest?” God, though, wants it otherwise. We rationalize our sins away and like to sweep things under the rug. That is why God wants us to tell our sins and to acknowledge them in a personal encounter. Therefore, the following words from the Gospel are true of priests: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn 20:23).
What Elements are essential to a Holy Mass?
Every Holy Mass (celebration of the Eucharist) unfolds in two main parts,
The Liturgy of the Word and
The Liturgy of the Eucharist.
In the Liturgy of the Word, we hear readings from the Old and New testament and also the Gospel.
Besides that there is an opportunity for preaching and general intercessory prayers. In the subsequent Liturgy of the Eucharist, bread and wine are offered, consecrated, and distributed to the faithful at Communion.
Every time the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she stands before the source from which she herself constantly springs anew. By “eating” the Body of Christ, the church becomes the Body of Christ, which is just another name for the Church. In the sacrifice of Christ, who gives himself to us, body and soul, there is room for our whole life. We can unite everything –our work and our sufferings, our joys –with Christ’s sacrifice. If we offer ourselves in this way, we are transformed: We become pleasing to God and like good, nourishing bread for all.
The Liturgy of the Word and
The Liturgy of the Eucharist.
In the Liturgy of the Word, we hear readings from the Old and New testament and also the Gospel.
Besides that there is an opportunity for preaching and general intercessory prayers. In the subsequent Liturgy of the Eucharist, bread and wine are offered, consecrated, and distributed to the faithful at Communion.
Every time the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she stands before the source from which she herself constantly springs anew. By “eating” the Body of Christ, the church becomes the Body of Christ, which is just another name for the Church. In the sacrifice of Christ, who gives himself to us, body and soul, there is room for our whole life. We can unite everything –our work and our sufferings, our joys –with Christ’s sacrifice. If we offer ourselves in this way, we are transformed: We become pleasing to God and like good, nourishing bread for all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)