Continues...
From Divine Mercy Novena:
"Fourth Day
'Today bring to Me Those Who Do Not Believe In God and Those Who Do Not Yet Know Me. I was thinking also of them during My bitter Passion, and their future zeal comforted My heart. Immerse them in the ocean of My mercy.'"
Monday, March 28, 2005
Generation Life
Versus the Culture of Death...Generation Life and the witness of Brandi Swindell, 28, of Boise, Idaho, who has been on a hunger strike since the feeding tube was removed from Terri Schiavo 12 days ago.
Pope Skips Appearance at His Window
You would think that the Vatican would know that he wasn't going to show, (in reference to the Vatican cameras below):
From Yahoo! News - Pope Skips Appearance at His Window:
" Pope John Paul II skipped his traditional appearance at his window overlooking St. Peter's Square the day after Easter, following a Holy Week during which he was unable to speak.
An appearance Monday -- a national holiday in Italy -- had not been confirmed because of John Paul's convalescence from throat surgery to ease a breathing crisis, although he had kept the appointment to bless pilgrims throughout his 26-year papacy.
Vatican TV cameras zoomed in on the pope's window at noontime, but the curtains remained closed."
From Yahoo! News - Pope Skips Appearance at His Window:
" Pope John Paul II skipped his traditional appearance at his window overlooking St. Peter's Square the day after Easter, following a Holy Week during which he was unable to speak.
An appearance Monday -- a national holiday in Italy -- had not been confirmed because of John Paul's convalescence from throat surgery to ease a breathing crisis, although he had kept the appointment to bless pilgrims throughout his 26-year papacy.
Vatican TV cameras zoomed in on the pope's window at noontime, but the curtains remained closed."
A Helper to Accused Priests
From MSNBC - Tending to Wayward Shepherds:
"Joe Maher never knows what to expect when he picks up the phone. Sometimes there's a trembling pause before a priest, choking back tears, tells him a disturbingly familiar tale: an accusation of sexual abuse, exile from his community. Other times, there's a caller screaming obscenities, furious that Maher would even speak to these 'sinners.' A mild-mannered, devout Roman Catholic, Maher is the founder of Opus Bono Sacerdotii--Latin for 'Work for the Good of the Priesthood'--the only lay advocacy group for priests accused of sexual misconduct. Some of the priests seeking help are likely innocent, others are not. But Maher believes in supporting them all. 'Priests are out there destitute, abandoned and desperate,' he says. 'And they need help.'"
"Joe Maher never knows what to expect when he picks up the phone. Sometimes there's a trembling pause before a priest, choking back tears, tells him a disturbingly familiar tale: an accusation of sexual abuse, exile from his community. Other times, there's a caller screaming obscenities, furious that Maher would even speak to these 'sinners.' A mild-mannered, devout Roman Catholic, Maher is the founder of Opus Bono Sacerdotii--Latin for 'Work for the Good of the Priesthood'--the only lay advocacy group for priests accused of sexual misconduct. Some of the priests seeking help are likely innocent, others are not. But Maher believes in supporting them all. 'Priests are out there destitute, abandoned and desperate,' he says. 'And they need help.'"
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Easter
Wishing you a joyful experience of Easter, today and everyday!
From Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann: Easter in the Liturgical Year:
In the center of our liturgical life, in the very center of that time which we measure as year, we find the feast of Christ’s Resurrection. What is Resurrection? Resurrection is the appearance in this world, completely dominated by time and therefore by death, of a life that will have no end. The one who rose again from the dead does not die anymore. In this world of ours, not somewhere else, not in a world that we do not know at all, but in our world, there appeared one morning Someone who is beyond death and yet in our time. This meaning of Christ’s Resurrection, this great joy, is the central theme of Christianity and it has been preserved in its purity by the Orthodox Church. There is much truth expressed by those who say that the real central theme of Orthodoxy, the center of all its experience, the frame of reference of everything else, is the Resurrection of Christ.
The center, the day, that gives meaning to all days and therefore to all time, is that yearly commemoration of Christ’s Resurrection at Easter. This is always the end and the beginning. We are always living after Easter, and we are always going toward Easter. Easter is the earliest Christian feast. The whole tone and meaning of the liturgical life of the Church is contained in Easter, together with the subsequent fifty-day period, which culminates in the feast of the Pentecost, the coming down of Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. This unique Easter celebration is reflected every week in the Christian Sunday, which we call in Russian "Voskresenie" (Resurrection Day). If only you would take some time to read the texts of Sunday Matins you would realize, though it may seem strange to you, that every Sunday we have a little Easter. I say "Little Easter," but it is really "Great Easter." Every week the Church comes to the same central experience: "Having seen Thy Resurrection..." Every Saturday night when the priest carries the Gospel from the altar to the center of the church, after he has read the Gospel of the Resurrection, the same fundamental fact of our Christian faith is proclaimed: Christ is risen! St. Paul says: "If Christ is not risen, then your faith is in vain." There is nothing else to believe. This is the real center, and it is only in reference to Easter as the end of all natural time and the beginning of the new time in which we as Christians have to live that we can understand the whole liturgical year. If you open a calendar, you will find all our Sundays are called Sundays after Pentecost, and Pentecost itself is fifty days after Easter. Pentecost is the fulfillment of Easter. Christ ascended into heaven and sent down His Holy Spirit. When He sent down His Holy Spirit into the world, a new society was instituted, a body of people, whose life, though it remained of this world and was shared in its life, took on a new meaning. This new meaning comes directly from Christ’s Resurrection. We are no longer people who are living in time as in a meaningless process, which makes us first old and then ends in our disappearance. We are given not only a new meaning in life, but even death itself has acquired a new significance. In the Troparion at Easter we say, "He trampled down death by death." We do not say that He trampled down death by the Resurrection, but by death. A Christian still faces death as a decomposition of the body, as an end; yet in Christ, in the Church, because of Easter, because of Pentecost, death is no longer just the end but it is the beginning also. It is not something meaningless which therefore gives a meaningless taste to all of life. Death means entering into the Easter of the Lord. This is the basic tone, the basic melody of the liturgical year of the Christian Church. Christianity is, first of all, the proclamation in this world of Christ’s Resurrection. Orthodox spirituality is paschal in its inner content, and the real content of the Church life is joy. We speak of feasts; the feast is the expression of joyfulness of Christianity.
From Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann: Easter in the Liturgical Year:
In the center of our liturgical life, in the very center of that time which we measure as year, we find the feast of Christ’s Resurrection. What is Resurrection? Resurrection is the appearance in this world, completely dominated by time and therefore by death, of a life that will have no end. The one who rose again from the dead does not die anymore. In this world of ours, not somewhere else, not in a world that we do not know at all, but in our world, there appeared one morning Someone who is beyond death and yet in our time. This meaning of Christ’s Resurrection, this great joy, is the central theme of Christianity and it has been preserved in its purity by the Orthodox Church. There is much truth expressed by those who say that the real central theme of Orthodoxy, the center of all its experience, the frame of reference of everything else, is the Resurrection of Christ.
The center, the day, that gives meaning to all days and therefore to all time, is that yearly commemoration of Christ’s Resurrection at Easter. This is always the end and the beginning. We are always living after Easter, and we are always going toward Easter. Easter is the earliest Christian feast. The whole tone and meaning of the liturgical life of the Church is contained in Easter, together with the subsequent fifty-day period, which culminates in the feast of the Pentecost, the coming down of Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. This unique Easter celebration is reflected every week in the Christian Sunday, which we call in Russian "Voskresenie" (Resurrection Day). If only you would take some time to read the texts of Sunday Matins you would realize, though it may seem strange to you, that every Sunday we have a little Easter. I say "Little Easter," but it is really "Great Easter." Every week the Church comes to the same central experience: "Having seen Thy Resurrection..." Every Saturday night when the priest carries the Gospel from the altar to the center of the church, after he has read the Gospel of the Resurrection, the same fundamental fact of our Christian faith is proclaimed: Christ is risen! St. Paul says: "If Christ is not risen, then your faith is in vain." There is nothing else to believe. This is the real center, and it is only in reference to Easter as the end of all natural time and the beginning of the new time in which we as Christians have to live that we can understand the whole liturgical year. If you open a calendar, you will find all our Sundays are called Sundays after Pentecost, and Pentecost itself is fifty days after Easter. Pentecost is the fulfillment of Easter. Christ ascended into heaven and sent down His Holy Spirit. When He sent down His Holy Spirit into the world, a new society was instituted, a body of people, whose life, though it remained of this world and was shared in its life, took on a new meaning. This new meaning comes directly from Christ’s Resurrection. We are no longer people who are living in time as in a meaningless process, which makes us first old and then ends in our disappearance. We are given not only a new meaning in life, but even death itself has acquired a new significance. In the Troparion at Easter we say, "He trampled down death by death." We do not say that He trampled down death by the Resurrection, but by death. A Christian still faces death as a decomposition of the body, as an end; yet in Christ, in the Church, because of Easter, because of Pentecost, death is no longer just the end but it is the beginning also. It is not something meaningless which therefore gives a meaningless taste to all of life. Death means entering into the Easter of the Lord. This is the basic tone, the basic melody of the liturgical year of the Christian Church. Christianity is, first of all, the proclamation in this world of Christ’s Resurrection. Orthodox spirituality is paschal in its inner content, and the real content of the Church life is joy. We speak of feasts; the feast is the expression of joyfulness of Christianity.
Weak Pope Unable to Speak
I watched this live this morning on EWTN. When the microphone was placed to him, he made a breathing sound but no words. The attendant moved the microphone away quickly.
The message given was one related to his Apostolic Letter "Stay with us Lord" tying the Eucharist to Easter.
From Reuters AlertNet - Weak Pope unable to speak on Easter Sunday:
"An ailing Pope John Paul appeared at his window to bless the faithful on Easter Sunday but in a dramatic episode that brought tears to the eyes of many people, he failed in his attempt to speak.
Aides had brought a microphone to the Pope's mouth. He made a few sounds and breathed heavily but was unable to pronounce any words. Aides then removed the microphone.
The Pope sat at his window for about 15 minutes listening to the end of an Easter Sunday service before he tried to speak. He looked uncomfortable and put both hands to his face."
The message given was one related to his Apostolic Letter "Stay with us Lord" tying the Eucharist to Easter.
From Reuters AlertNet - Weak Pope unable to speak on Easter Sunday:
"An ailing Pope John Paul appeared at his window to bless the faithful on Easter Sunday but in a dramatic episode that brought tears to the eyes of many people, he failed in his attempt to speak.
Aides had brought a microphone to the Pope's mouth. He made a few sounds and breathed heavily but was unable to pronounce any words. Aides then removed the microphone.
The Pope sat at his window for about 15 minutes listening to the end of an Easter Sunday service before he tried to speak. He looked uncomfortable and put both hands to his face."
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Holy Saturday
Always a cogent thought...
From Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann: Great and Holy Saturday:
From Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann: Great and Holy Saturday:
THE TRANSITION
Holy Saturday is a neglected day in parish life. Few people attend the Services. Popular piety usually reduces Holy Week to one day — Holy Friday. This day is quickly replaced by another — Easter Sunday. Christ is dead and then suddenly alive. Great sorrow is suddenly replaced by great joy. In such a scheme Holy Saturday is lost.
In the understanding of the Church, sorrow is not replaced by joy; it is transformed into joy. This distinction indicates that it is precisely within death the Christ continues to effect triumph.
TRAMPLING DOWN DEATH BY DEATH
We sing that Christ is ". . . trampling down death by death" in the troparion of Easter. This phrase gives great meaning to Holy Saturday. Christ’s repose in the tomb is an "active" repose. He comes in search of His fallen friend, Adam, who represents all men. Not finding him on earth, He descends to the realm of death, known as Hades in the Old Testament. There He finds him and brings him life once again. This is the victory: the dead are given life. The tomb is no longer a forsaken, lifeless place. By His death Christ tramples down death.
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