Petrine, Second Samuel 7:4-16, Psalms 89, Matthew 1:16.18-21.24a, Pope Frances Daily Activity, St Joseph, The Mystical City of God: The Happy Death of Saint Joseph, Tradition of St Joseph's Altar, Catholic Catechism Part Two Celebration of the Christian Mystery
Good Day Bloggers! Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Prayers for Today: Tuesday in Lent
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
Pope Francis Ring
Vatican City,
19 March 2013 (VIS) – This is the history of the Fisherman’s Ring that,
beginning today, Pope Francis will wear on the ring finger of his right
hand
Archbishop Pasquale Macchi, the personal secretary of Pope Paul VI, kept the wax cast of the ring that had been designed for Paul VI by the Italian artist Enrico Manfrini. (He also made several medals and other artistic objects for Paul VI.) The ring depicts St. Peter holding the keys. It was never cast into metal therefore Paul VI never wore it. Instead, he always wore the ring that was commissioned at the time of the Second Vatican Council.
When he passed away in 2006, the cast, along with other objects, was left by Archbishop Macchi to Monsignor Ettore Malnati, who had worked closely with him for many years. Msgr. Malnati made a ring of gold-plated silver from the wax cast. This ring was offered to Pope Francis, along with several other possible options, by the Papal Master of Ceremonies, through the auspices of Cardinal Re. Pope Francis chose it for his Ring of the Fisherman and it was bestowed upon him at this morning's Mass of the Inauguration of his Petrine Ministry.
Archbishop Pasquale Macchi, the personal secretary of Pope Paul VI, kept the wax cast of the ring that had been designed for Paul VI by the Italian artist Enrico Manfrini. (He also made several medals and other artistic objects for Paul VI.) The ring depicts St. Peter holding the keys. It was never cast into metal therefore Paul VI never wore it. Instead, he always wore the ring that was commissioned at the time of the Second Vatican Council.
When he passed away in 2006, the cast, along with other objects, was left by Archbishop Macchi to Monsignor Ettore Malnati, who had worked closely with him for many years. Msgr. Malnati made a ring of gold-plated silver from the wax cast. This ring was offered to Pope Francis, along with several other possible options, by the Papal Master of Ceremonies, through the auspices of Cardinal Re. Pope Francis chose it for his Ring of the Fisherman and it was bestowed upon him at this morning's Mass of the Inauguration of his Petrine Ministry.
Pope Francis Coat of Arms
Vatican City, 19 March 2013 (VIS).- The new pontiff's papal coat of
arms and motto are the same that he used as bishop. The shield has a
bright blue background, at the centre top of which is a yellow radiant
sun with the IHS christogram on it representing Jesus (it is also the
Jesuit logo). The IHS monogram, as well as a cross that pierces the H,
are in red with three black nails directly under them. Under that, to
the left, is a star representing Mary, Mother of Christ and the Church.
To the right of the star is a nard flower representing Joseph, Patron of
the Universal Church. With these symbols the Pope demonstrates his love
for the Holy Family.
What distinguishes his coat of arms as pontiff is that, instead of the wide-brimmed, red cardinal's hat atop the shield, it is now bears the same symbols of papal dignity as that of Benedict XVI: the papal mitre and crossed silver and gold keys joined by a red cord.
His motto—“miserando atque eligendo” (because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him)—is taken from the Venerable Bede's homily on the Gospel account of the call of Matthew. It holds special meaning for the Pope because—when he was only 17-years-old, after going to confession on the Feast of St. Matthew in 1953—he perceived God's mercy in his life and felt the call to the priesthood, following the example of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Vatican City, 19 March 2013 (VIS) – Following is the complete text of the homily that Pope Francis gave during the Mass inaugurating his Petrine ministry. Beginning with the image of St. Joseph, the “protector”, the Pope stressed that the vocation to protect creation and humanity concerns everyone. He urged all to not be afraid of goodness or even of tenderness.
“Dear Brothers and Sisters, I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church. It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of affection and gratitude.”
“I offer a warm greeting to my brother cardinals and bishops, the priests, deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful. I thank the representatives of the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the other religious communities, for their presence. My cordial greetings go to the Heads of State and Government, the members of the official Delegations from many countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps.”
“In the Gospel we heard that 'Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife' (Mt 1:24). These words already point to the mission that God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the 'custos', the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church, as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: 'Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model' (Redemptoris Custos, 1).”
“How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly, and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand. From the time of his betrothal to Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, he is there at every moment with loving care. As the spouse of Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus.”
“How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading. God does not want a house built by humans, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a “protector” because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the heart of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!”
“The vocation of being a 'protector', however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about. It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness. In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts!
“Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and our hearts are hardened. Tragically, in every period of history there are 'Herods' who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women.”
“Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political, and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be 'protectors' of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany our world's journey! But to be 'protectors', we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy, and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up or tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!”
“Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness; it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!”
“Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete, and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgement on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!”
“In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of Abraham, who, 'hoping against hope, believed' (Rom 4:18). Hoping against hope! Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon of God that has opened up before us in Christ. It is a hope built on the rock that is God.”
“To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!”
“I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me! Amen.”
What distinguishes his coat of arms as pontiff is that, instead of the wide-brimmed, red cardinal's hat atop the shield, it is now bears the same symbols of papal dignity as that of Benedict XVI: the papal mitre and crossed silver and gold keys joined by a red cord.
His motto—“miserando atque eligendo” (because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him)—is taken from the Venerable Bede's homily on the Gospel account of the call of Matthew. It holds special meaning for the Pope because—when he was only 17-years-old, after going to confession on the Feast of St. Matthew in 1953—he perceived God's mercy in his life and felt the call to the priesthood, following the example of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Pope Francis Homily
on the Feast Day of St Joseph and Papal Inauguration
Vatican City, 19 March 2013 (VIS) – Following is the complete text of the homily that Pope Francis gave during the Mass inaugurating his Petrine ministry. Beginning with the image of St. Joseph, the “protector”, the Pope stressed that the vocation to protect creation and humanity concerns everyone. He urged all to not be afraid of goodness or even of tenderness.
“Dear Brothers and Sisters, I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church. It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of affection and gratitude.”
“I offer a warm greeting to my brother cardinals and bishops, the priests, deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful. I thank the representatives of the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the other religious communities, for their presence. My cordial greetings go to the Heads of State and Government, the members of the official Delegations from many countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps.”
“In the Gospel we heard that 'Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife' (Mt 1:24). These words already point to the mission that God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the 'custos', the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church, as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: 'Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model' (Redemptoris Custos, 1).”
“How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly, and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand. From the time of his betrothal to Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, he is there at every moment with loving care. As the spouse of Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus.”
“How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading. God does not want a house built by humans, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a “protector” because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the heart of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!”
“The vocation of being a 'protector', however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about. It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness. In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts!
“Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and our hearts are hardened. Tragically, in every period of history there are 'Herods' who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women.”
“Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political, and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be 'protectors' of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany our world's journey! But to be 'protectors', we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy, and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up or tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!”
“Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness; it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!”
“Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete, and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgement on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect!”
“In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of Abraham, who, 'hoping against hope, believed' (Rom 4:18). Hoping against hope! Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon of God that has opened up before us in Christ. It is a hope built on the rock that is God.”
“To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us!”
“I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me! Amen.”
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 3/15/2013.
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March 18 2013 Message to the World via Annual Apparition to Mirjana:
"Dear children! I call you to, with complete trust and joy, bless the name of the Lord and, day by day, to give Him thanks from the heart for His great love. My Son, through that love which He showed by the Cross, gave you the possibility to be forgiven for everything; so that you do not have to be ashamed or to hide, and out of fear not to open the door of your heart to my Son. To the contrary, my children, reconcile with the Heavenly Father so that you may be able to come to love yourselves as my Son loves you. When you come to love yourselves, you will also love others; in them you will see my Son and recognize the greatness of His love. Live in faith! Through me, my Son is preparing you for the works which He desires to do through you – works through which He desires to be glorified. Give Him thanks. Especially thank Him for the shepherds - for your intercessors in the reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. I am thanking you, my children. Thank you."
March 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children; Anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you not to be of a hard heart. Do not shut your eyes to the warnings which the Heavenly Father sends to you out of love. Do you love Him above all else? Do you repent for having often forgotten that the Heavenly Father, out of His great love, sent His Son to redeem us by the Cross? Do you repent for not having accepted the message? My children, do not resist the love of my Son. Do not resist hope and peace. Along with your prayers and fasting, by His Cross, my Son will cast away the darkness that wants to surround you and come to rule over you. He will give you the strength for a new life. Living it according to my Son, you will be a blessing and a hope to all those sinners who wander in the darkness of sin. My children, keep vigil. I, as a mother, am keeping vigil with you. I am especially praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be light-bearers and carriers of hope for you – for your shepherds. Thank you.”
February 25, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. Sin is pulling you towards worldly things and I have come to lead you towards holiness and the things of God, but you are struggling and spending your energies in the battle with the good and the evil that are in you. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and your life will become a simple walk towards God. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
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Today's Word: Petrine Pe·trine [pee-trahyn]
Origin: 1840–50; < Late Latin Petr ( us ) Peter + -ine1
adjective
of or pertaining to the apostle Peter or the Epistles bearing his name.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 89:2-5, 27, 29
2 for you have said: love is built to last for ever, you have fixed your constancy firm in the heavens.
3 'I have made a covenant with my Chosen One, sworn an oath to my servant David:
4 I have made your dynasty firm for ever, built your throne stable age after age.'Pause
5 The heavens praise your wonders, Yahweh, your constancy in the gathering of your faithful.
27 So I shall make him my first-born, the highest of earthly kings.
29 I have established his dynasty for ever, his throne to be as lasting as the heavens.
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Today's Epistle - Second Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16
4 But that very night, the word of Yahweh came to Nathan:
5 'Go and tell my servant David, "Yahweh says this: Are you to build me a temple for me to live in?
12 And when your days are over and you
fall asleep with your ancestors, I shall appoint your heir, your own son
to succeed you (and I shall make his sovereignty secure.
13 He will build a temple for my name) and I shall make his royal throne secure for ever.
14 I shall be a father to him and he a
son to me; if he does wrong, I shall punish him with a rod such as men
use, with blows such as mankind gives.
16 Your dynasty and your sovereignty will ever stand firm before me and your throne be for ever secure." '
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Today's Gospel Reading - Matthew 1:16.18-21.24a
Matthew 1,16.18-21.24a
Joseph, the Spouse of Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Joseph, the Spouse of Mary, the Mother of Jesus
1. LECTIO
a) Opening prayer:
a) Opening prayer:
Spirit who moves over the water,
calm in us all discordance,
the agitated waves, the noise of the words,
the whirlwind of vanity,
and make the Word which recreates,
arise in silence.
calm in us all discordance,
the agitated waves, the noise of the words,
the whirlwind of vanity,
and make the Word which recreates,
arise in silence.
Spirit who in a sigh you Whisper
to our spirit the Name of the Father,
come and gather together all our desires,
make them grow in a beam of light
which will be a response to your light,
the Word of the new Day.
to our spirit the Name of the Father,
come and gather together all our desires,
make them grow in a beam of light
which will be a response to your light,
the Word of the new Day.
Spirit of God, the sap of love
of the immense tree on which you graft us,
so that all our brothers
will seem to us as a gift
in the great Body in which
the Word of communion matures.
of the immense tree on which you graft us,
so that all our brothers
will seem to us as a gift
in the great Body in which
the Word of communion matures.
(Frère Pierre-Yves of Taizé)
b) Reading of the Gospel: Matthew 1, 16-24
b) Reading of the Gospel: Matthew 1, 16-24
Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of
Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ. The sum of generations
is therefore: fourteen from Abraham to David; fourteen from David to
the Babylonian deportation; and fourteen from the Babylonian deportation
to Christ. This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary
was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was
found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph,
being an upright man and wanting to spare her disgrace, decided to
divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when suddenly
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son
of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she
has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a
son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save
his people from their sins.' Now all this took place to fulfil what the
Lord had spoken through the prophet: Look! the virgin is with child and
will give birth to a son whom they will call Immanuel, a name which
means 'God-is-with-us'. When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the
Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home; he had not had
intercourse with her when she gave birth to a son; and he named him
Jesus.
c) A moment of silence: so that the Word of God may enter into our hearts and enlighten our lives.
2. MEDITATIO
a) A key to the reading:
c) A moment of silence: so that the Word of God may enter into our hearts and enlighten our lives.
2. MEDITATIO
a) A key to the reading:
The passage of today’s Gospel is taken
from the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew which forms part of the
section concerning the conception, birth and infancy of Jesus. The
center of all this account is the Person of Jesus around which are all
the events and the persons mentioned. One must keep in mind that the
Gospel reveals a Theology of the history of Jesus, and so getting close
to the Word of God we should get the message which is hidden under the
veils of the account without losing ourselves, as Paul so wisely advises
us “in foolish speculations”, avoiding “those genealogies and the
quibbles and disputes about the Law, they are useless and futile” (Tt
3,9).
In fact, this text is connected to the
genealogy of Jesus, which Matthew arranges with the intention of
stressing the dynastic succession of Jesus, the Saviour of his people
(Mt 1, 21). To Jesus are conferred all the rights inherited from the
lineage of David, of “Joseph, son of David” (Mt 1:20; Lk 2:4-5) his
legal father. For the Biblical and Hebrew world legal paternity was
sufficient to confer all the rights of the lineage in question (cf.: the
law of the levirate and of adoption (Dt 25:5ff). That is why from the
beginning of the genealog, Jesus is designed as “Christ the Son of
David” (Mt 1:1) that is, the anointed one of the Lord Son of David, with
whom all the promises of God to David his servant, are fulfilled (2 Sam
7:1-16; 2 Cr 7:18; 2 Cr 21:7; Ps 89:30). This is why Matthew adds to
the account of the genealogy and of the conception of Jesus the prophecy
of Isaiah: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken
through the prophet.: The young woman is with child and will give birth
to a son whom she will call Immanuel, which means God with us” (Mt 1,
21-23 and Is 7:14).
Let us stop to say something, on the
spiritual reality of adoption, we can refer to the fact that the elected
people possess “the glory, the covenants, the legislation, the cult,
the promises”, because “they are Israelites and possess the adoption of
sons” (Rm 9:4). But we also, the new people of God in Christ receive the
adoption of sons because “when the completion of the time came God sent
his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the
subjects of the Law, so that we could receive adoption as sons” (Gal
4:4-5). This is the salvation which Jesus has brought to us. Christ
“will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21) because he is the “God
with us!” (Mt 1: 23) who makes adopted sons of God.
Jesus is born from “Mary who was
betrothed to Joseph” (Mt 1:18a)) who “was found to be with child through
the Holy Spirit” (Mt 1: 18b). Matthew does not give the account of the
annunciation as Luke does (Lk 1, 26-38), but structures the account from
the point of view of the experience of Joseph the just man. The Bible
reveals to us that God loves the just and many times chooses them for an
important mission, protects them and does not join them to the impious
(Gen 18:23ff). In the Old Testament we find many persons who are
considered just. We think of Noah “a good man, an upright man among his
contemporaries” (Gen 6:9). Or also Johoash who “did what Yahweh regards
as right” (2 K 12:3).
A constant idea in the Bible is the
“dream” as a privileged place where God makes his projects and designs
known, and sometimes reveals the future. The dreams of Jacob and Betel
are well known (Gen 28: 10ff) and Joseph his son, as also those of the
cup-bearer and the chief baker imprisoned in Egypt with him (Gen 37:5ff;
Gen 40: 5ff) and the dreams of Pharaoh which revealed the future years
of plenty and of famine and want (Gen 41:1ff).
“An Angel of the Lord“ appeared to
Joseph (Mt 1:20) to reveal to him God’s design. In the Gospels of the
infancy frequently the Angel of the Lord is mentioned as the heavenly
messenger (Mt 1:20.24; 2:13.19; Lk 1:11; 2:9) and also on other
occasions the angel appears to calm down, to reveal the project of God,
to heal, to liberate from slavery (cf. Mt 28:2; Jn 5:4; Acts 5:19; 8:26;
12:7.23). Many are the references to the Angel of the Lord also in the
Old Testament where originally the angel represented the Lord himself
who guided and protected his people being close to them (cf. Gen
16:7-16; 22:12; 24:7; Ex 3:3; 23:20; Tb 5:4).
b) Questions to orientate the meditation and make it relevant:
b) Questions to orientate the meditation and make it relevant:
● What has struck you in this passage? Why?
● In the key to the reading, have we given enough consideration to some terms (adoption, angel, dream, just)? What sentiments or thoughts did these arise in your heart? What relevance can they have for your journey of spiritual maturation?
● Which do you think is the central message in this Gospel passage?
3. ORATIO
a) Psalm 92
● In the key to the reading, have we given enough consideration to some terms (adoption, angel, dream, just)? What sentiments or thoughts did these arise in your heart? What relevance can they have for your journey of spiritual maturation?
● Which do you think is the central message in this Gospel passage?
3. ORATIO
a) Psalm 92
It is good to give thanks to Yahweh,
to make music for your name, Most High,
to proclaim your faithful love at daybreak,
and your constancy all through the night,
on the lyre, the ten-stringed lyre,
to the murmur of the harp.
You have brought me joy, Yahweh,
by your deeds, at the work of your hands I cry out,
'How great are your works, Yahweh,
immensely deep your thoughts!'
to make music for your name, Most High,
to proclaim your faithful love at daybreak,
and your constancy all through the night,
on the lyre, the ten-stringed lyre,
to the murmur of the harp.
You have brought me joy, Yahweh,
by your deeds, at the work of your hands I cry out,
'How great are your works, Yahweh,
immensely deep your thoughts!'
Stupid people cannot realise this,
fools do not grasp it.
The wicked may sprout like weeds,
and every evil-doer flourish,
but only to be eternally destroyed;
whereas you are supreme for ever, Yahweh.
fools do not grasp it.
The wicked may sprout like weeds,
and every evil-doer flourish,
but only to be eternally destroyed;
whereas you are supreme for ever, Yahweh.
Look how your enemies perish,
how all evil-doers are scattered!
You give me the strength of the wild ox,
you anoint me with fresh oil;
I caught sight of the ambush against me,
overheard the plans of the wicked.
how all evil-doers are scattered!
You give me the strength of the wild ox,
you anoint me with fresh oil;
I caught sight of the ambush against me,
overheard the plans of the wicked.
The upright will flourish like the palm tree,
will grow like a cedar of Lebanon.
Planted in the house of Yahweh,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
In old age they will still bear fruit,
will remain fresh and green,
to proclaim Yahweh's integrity;
my rock, in whom no fault can be found.
b) Moments for a prayerful silence
4. CONTEMPLATIO
will grow like a cedar of Lebanon.
Planted in the house of Yahweh,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
In old age they will still bear fruit,
will remain fresh and green,
to proclaim Yahweh's integrity;
my rock, in whom no fault can be found.
b) Moments for a prayerful silence
4. CONTEMPLATIO
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Saint Joseph
Feast Day: March 19
Patron Saint: Universal Church, Family, Sicily, Italy
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,
Attributes: lilies, baby Jesus, carpenter
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| St Joseph |
The Pauline epistles, generally considered the earliest extant Christian records, make no reference to Jesus' father; nor does the Gospel of Mark, generally considered the first of the gospels] The first appearance of Joseph is therefore in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Each contains a genealogy of Jesus tracing his ancestry back to King David, but the two are from different sons of David; Matthew follows the major royal line from Solomon, while Luke follows a minor line from Nathan, another son of David and Bathsheba. Consequently all the names between David and Joseph are different. According to Matthew "Jacob was the father of Joseph," while according to Luke, Joseph, or possibly Jesus, is said to be "of Heli." Some scholars reconcile the genealogies by viewing the Solomonic lineage in Matthew as Joseph's major royal line, and the Nathanic lineage in Luke to be Mary's minor line.
Matthew and Luke are also the only gospels to include the infancy narratives, and again they differ. In Luke, Joseph lives in Nazareth and travels to Bethlehem in compliance with the requirements of a Roman census. Subsequently, Jesus was born there. In Matthew, Joseph was in Bethlehem, the city of David, where Jesus is born, and then moves to Nazareth with his family after the death of Herod. Matthew is the only Gospel to include the narrative of the Massacre of the Innocents and the Flight into Egypt: following the nativity, Joseph stays in Bethlehem for an unspecified period (perhaps two years) until forced by Herod to take refuge in Egypt; on the death of Herod he brings his family back to Judea, and settles in Nazareth. After this point there is no further mention of Joseph by name, although the story of Jesus in the Temple, in Jesus' 12th year, includes a reference to "both his parents". Christian tradition represents Mary as a widow during the adult ministry of her son. The gospels describe Joseph as a "tekton" (τέκτων); traditionally the word has been taken to mean "carpenter", though the Greek term evokes an artisan with wood in general, or an artisan in iron or stone. Very little other information on Joseph is given in the gospels. He is never quoted. Matthew records four dreams in which Joseph is supernaturally instructed before, and after, the birth and early years of Jesus. In the first dream, an angel confirms to Joseph that Mary is with child, conceived by the Holy Spirit, that she will bear a son to be named Jesus, Who will save His people from their sins; and Joseph should, therefore, not be reluctant to marry her. In the second dream, an angel tells Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt (from Bethlehem) and remain until the angel instructs further, because Herod is seeking to kill Jesus. In Joseph's third dream, an angel instructs Joseph to return his family to Israel, implying that Herod is dead. However, Joseph hears that Herod's son Archelaus reigns over Judea, and he is afraid to continue the journey. In the fourth dream, God Himself warns Joseph to avoid returning to Judea (Bethlehem). Joseph then settles Mary and Jesus in the region of Galilee in Nazareth.
Joseph is venerated as a saint in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran faiths. In Catholic and other traditions, Joseph is the patron saint of workers and has several feast days. He was also declared to be the patron saint and protector of the Catholic Church by Pope Pius IX in 1870, and is the patron of several countries and regions. With the growth of Mariology, the theological field of Josephology has also grown and since the 1950s centres for studying it have been formed.
Paul and the canonical Gospels
Joseph in the New Testament
The epistles of Paul are generally regarded as the oldest extant Christian writings. These mention Jesus' mother (without naming her), but do not refer to his father - other than God (Romans 15:26 etc.). The oldest gospel, that of Mark, also does not mention Jesus's father. Joseph first appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, generally regarded as later than Mark. Luke names Joseph's father as Heli, and Matthew names his father as Jacob, which parallels the Old Testament Joseph (whose father was also named Jacob) and is in keeping with that gospel's depiction of Jesus as a second Moses. This theme is developed further in the infancy narratives, which, like the genealogies, have the function of establishing Jesus as the promised Messiah, the descendant of David, born in Bethlehem.Like the two differing genealogies the infancy narratives appear only in Matthew and Luke, and take different approaches to reconciling the requirement that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem with the tradition that Jesus came from Nazareth. In Matthew, Joseph obeys the direction of an angel to marry Mary and then to flee to Egypt to escape the massacre of the children of Bethlehem planned by Herod the Great, the tyrant who rules Judea. Once Herod has died, the angel tells him to return to Galilee instead of to Bethlehem, and so Joseph takes his wife and the child to Nazareth and settles there. Thus in Matthew, the infant Jesus, like Moses, is in peril from a cruel king, like Moses he has a (fore)father named Joseph who goes down to Egypt, like the Old Testament Joseph this Joseph has a father named Jacob, and both Josephs receive important dreams foretelling their future. In Luke, Joseph already lives in Nazareth, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem because Joseph and Mary have to travel there to be counted in a census. Luke's account makes no mention of angels and dreams, the Massacre of the Innocents, or of a visit to Egypt.
The last time Joseph appears in person in any Gospel is the story of the Passover visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus is 12 years old, found only in Luke. Like the infancy narratives the story is didactic, emphasising Jesus' awareness of his coming mission: here Jesus speaks to his parents (both of them) of "my father," meaning God, but they fail to understand.(Luke 2:41-51).
None of the Gospels mentions Joseph as present at any event during Jesus' adult ministry. The synoptic Gospels, however, share a scene in which the people of Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, doubt Jesus' status as a prophet because they know his family. In Mark 6:3, they call Jesus "Mary's son" instead of naming his father. In Matthew, the townspeople call Jesus "the carpenter's son," again without naming his father, and again he has brothers named James, and Joses (i.e., Joseph), and Simon, and Judas (Matthew 13:53-58). In Luke 3:23 "And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was [the son] of Heli," and Luke makes no mention of any brothers (Luke 4:16-30). In Luke the tone is positive, whereas in Mark and Matthew it is disparaging. This incident does not appear at all in John, but in a parallel story the disbelieving Jews refer to "Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know" (John 6:41-51).
Joseph is not mentioned as being present at the Wedding at Cana at the beginning of Jesus' mission, nor at the Passion at the end. If he had been present at the Crucifixion, he would under Jewish custom have been expected to take charge of Jesus' body, but this role is instead performed by Joseph of Arimathea. Nor would Jesus have entrusted his mother to John's care had her husband been alive.
Gospel Harmony
A sample Gospel harmony of the episodes of the life of Saint Joseph in the canonical Gospels, in summarform of harmonies for the four gospels.See the gallery below for artistic depictions of some of these events.Professional life
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| St. Joseph the Carpenter, by Georges de La Tour, 1640s. |
John Dominic Crossan puts tekton into a historical context more resembling an itinerant worker than an established artisan, emphasizing his marginality in a population in which a peasant who owns land could become quite prosperous. Other scholars have argued that tekton could equally mean a highly-skilled craftsman in wood or the more prestigious metal, perhaps running a workshop with several employees, and noted sources recording the shortage of skilled artisans at the time. Geza Vermes has stated that the terms 'carpenter' and 'son of a carpenter' are used in the Jewish Talmud to signify a very learned man, and he suggests that a description of Joseph as 'naggar' (a carpenter) could indicate that he was considered wise and highly literate in the Torah.
At the time of Joseph, Nazareth was an obscure village in Galilee, about 65 km from the Holy City of Jerusalem, which is barely mentioned in surviving non-Christian texts and documents. Archaeology over most of the site is made impossible by subsequent building, but from what has been excavated and tombs in the area around the village, it is estimated that the population was at most about 400. It was, however, only about 6 kilometres from the city of Tzippori (ancient "Sepphoris"), which was destroyed by the Romans in 4 BC, and thereafter was expensively rebuilt. Analysis of the landscape and other evidence suggest that in Joseph's lifetime Nazareth was "oriented towards" the nearby city, which had an overwhelmingly Jewish population although with many signs of Hellenization, and historians have speculated that Joseph and later Jesus too might have traveled daily to work on the rebuilding. Specifically the large theatre in the city has been suggested, although this has aroused much controversy over dating and other issues. Other scholars see Joseph and Jesus as the general village craftsmen, working in wood, stone and metal on a wide variety of jobs.
Modern appraisal
The name of Joseph is found almost exclusively in the genealogies and the infancy narratives. The variances between the genealogies given in Matthew and Luke are explained on the basis that Matthew's genealogy traces his legal descent, according to Jewish law, through St. Joseph; while Luke's genealogy traces his actual physical descent through Mary.Modern positions on the question of the relationship between Joseph and the Virgin Mary vary. The Eastern Orthodox Church, which names Joseph's first wife as Salome, holds that Joseph was a widower and merely betrothed, but never married, to Mary, and that references to Jesus' "brothers" are to children of Joseph and Salome. The position of the Catholic Church, derived from the writings of Saint Jerome, is that Joseph was the husband of Mary, but that references to Jesus' "brothers" should be understood to mean cousins or step-brothers. In both cases, the church doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity means that Joseph and Mary never had sexual relations. The Protestant churches, following the tenet of Virgin Birth but not that of Perpetual Virginity, hold no strong views on the subject.
Later apocryphal writings
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| Christ in the House of his Parents, by John Everett Millais |
The first to offer a solution was the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James, written about 150 AD. The original gospels never refer to Joseph's age, but James presents him as an old man chosen by lot (i.e., by God) to watch over the Virgin. Jesus' brothers are presented as Joseph's children by an earlier marriage, and his years and righteousness explain why he has not yet had sex with his wife: "I received her by lot as my wife, and she is not yet my wife, but she has conceived by the Holy Spirit."
The Protoevangelium was extremely popular, but it leaves open the possibility that Joseph might have had relations with Mary after the birth of Jesus ("she is not yet my wife..."). A few centuries later the developing doctrine that Mary was a virgin not only at the time of the conception and birth of Christ, but throughout her life, meant that this possibility had to be excluded. The apocryphal History of Joseph the Carpenter, written in the 5th century and framed as a biography of Joseph dictated by Jesus, describes how Joseph, aged 90 (the Protoevangelium had not given Joseph a specific age), a widower with four sons and two daughters, is given charge of the twelve-year-old Mary, who then lives in his household raising his youngest son James the Less (the supposed author of the Protoevengelium) until she is ready to be married at age 14½. Joseph's death at the age of 111, attended by angels and asserting the perpetual virginity of Mary, takes up approximately half the story.
Sainthood
Together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus Joseph is one of the three members of the Holy Family; since he only appears in the birth narratives of the Gospels, Jesus is depicted as a child when with him. The formal veneration of the Holy Family began in the 17th century by Mgr François de Laval.Pope Pius IX proclaimed Saint Joseph the patron of the Universal Church in 1870, the unofficial patron against doubt and hesitation, as well as the patron saint of fighting communism, and of a happy death. Having died in the "arms of Jesus and Mary" according to Catholic tradition, he is considered the model of the pious believer who receives grace at the moment of death, and prays especially for families, fathers, expectant mothers (pregnant women), travelers, immigrants, house sellers and buyers, craftsmen, engineers, and working people in general.
The earliest records of a formal devotional following for Saint Joseph date to the year 800 and references to him as nutritor Domini (educator/guardian of the Lord) began to appear in the 9th century, and continued growing to the 14th century. Saint Thomas Aquinas discussed the necessity of the presence of Saint Joseph in the plan of the Incarnation for if Mary had not been married, the Jews would have stoned her and that in his youth Jesus needed the care and protection of a human father.
In the 15th century major steps were taken by Saint Bernardine of Siena, Pierre d'Ailly and Jean Gerson.Gerson wrote Consideration sur Saint Joseph and preached sermons on Saint Joseph at the Council of Constance. In 1889 Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Quamquam Pluries in which he urged Catholics to pray to Saint Joseph, as the patron of the Church in view of the challenges facing the Church.
Josephology, the study of the theology of Saint Joseph, is one of the most recent theological disciplines. In 1989, on the occasion of the centenary of Quamquam Pluries Pope John Paul II issued Redemptoris Custos, i.e. Guardian of the Redeemer which presented Saint Joseph's role in the plan of redemption, as part of the "redemption documents" issued by John Paul II such as Redemptoris Mater to which it refers.
Feast days
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| Holy Family by Raphael |
In 1870, Pope Pius IX declared Joseph patron of the universal Church and instituted another feast, with an octave, to be held in his honour on Wednesday in the second week after Easter. This was abolished by Pope Pius XII, when in 1955 he established the Feast of "St. Joseph the Worker", to be celebrated on 1 May. This date counteracts May Day, a union, workers and socialists holiday and reflects Joseph's status as what many Catholics and other Christians consider the "patron of workers" and "model of workers." Catholic and other Christian teachings and stories about or relating to Joseph and the Holy Family frequently stress his patience, persistence, and hard work as admirable qualities which believers should adopt.
Pope John XXIII added the name of Joseph to the Canon of the Mass. The 19 March feast is a solemnity and is transferred to another date if impeded (for instance, if it falls on a Sunday, which must fall in Lent). The 1 May celebration is an optional memorial, and so is omitted if impeded. (However, the 1 May celebration is 1st class in the Tridentine calendar, so in it St. Joseph the Worker was celebrated on 2 May in 2008 because 1 May was Ascension Thursday and in 2011 because 1 May was in the Easter octave.)
Places, Churches and Institutions
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| Saint Joseph's Oratory, Montreal. |
Many churches, monasteries and other institutions are dedicated to Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph's Oratory is the largest church in Canada, with the largest dome of its kind in the world after that of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Elsewhere in the world churches named after the saint may be known as those of San Giuseppe, e.g. San Giuseppe dei Teatini, San José, e.g. Metropolitan Cathedral of San José or São José, e.g. in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
The Sisters of St. Joseph were founded as an order in 1650 and have about 14,013 members worldwide. In 1871, the Josephite Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church were created under the patronage of Joseph, intending to work with the poor. The first Josephites in America re-devoted their part of the Order to ministry within the newly-emancipated African American community. The Oblates of St. Joseph were founded in 1878 by St. Joseph Marello. In 1999 their Shrine of Saint Joseph the Guardian of the Redeemer was named after the Apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Custos.
Prayers and devotions
In the Catholic tradition, just as there are prayers for the Seven Joys of Mary and Seven Sorrows of Mary, so there are also prayers for the seven joys and seven sorrows of Saint Joseph; these include prayers for daily protection, vocation, happy marriage, happy death, and hopeless cases; specific prayers, novenas and devotions include the Prayer to Saint Joseph and the Novena to Saint Joseph. St. Francis de Sales included Saint Joseph along with Virgin Mary as saints to be invoked during prayers in his Introduction to the Devout Life, Saint Teresa of Avila attributed her recovery of health to Saint Joseph and recommended him as an advocate, and Saint Therese of Lisieux stated that for a period of time, every day she prayed to "Saint Joseph, Father and Protector of Virgins..." and felt safe and protected from danger as a result, and Pius X composed a prayer to Saint Joseph which begins:- Glorious St. Joseph, pattern of all who are devoted to toil,
- obtain for me the grace to toil, in the spirit of penance,
- in order to thereby atone for my many sins...
In art
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| Nativity by Martin Schongauer (1475-80) |
In recent centuries – in step with a growing interest in Joseph's role in Gospel exegesis – he himself has become a focal figure in representations of the Holy Family. He is now often portrayed as a younger or even youthful man (perhaps especially in Protestant depictions), whether going about his work as a carpenter, or participating actively in the daily life of Mary and Jesus as an equal and openly affectionate member.[60] Art critic Waldemar Januszczak however emphasises the preponderance of Joseph's representation as an old man and sees this as the need, " to explain away his impotence: indeed to symbolise it. In Guido Reni's Nativity, Mary is about 15, and he is about 70 - for the real love affair - is the one between the Virgin Mary and us. She is young. She is perfect. She is virginal - it is Joseph's task to stand aside and let us desire her, religiously. It takes a particularly old, a particularly grey, a particularly kindly and a particularly feeble man to do that. It takes a Joseph. Banished in vast numbers to the backgrounds of all those gloomy stables in all those ersatz Bethlehems, his complex iconographic task is to stand aside and let his wife be worshipped by the rest of us. He is God's cuckold. And art has no choice but to point this out - while, of course, appearing not to."
Full cycles of his life are rare in the Middle Ages, though the scenes from the Life of the Virgin or Life of Christ where he is present are far more often seen. The Mérode Altarpiece of about 1425, where he has a panel to himself, working as a carpenter, is an early example of what remained relatively rare depictions of him pursuing his métier. Some statues of Joseph depict his staff as topped with flowers, recalling the non-canonical Protoevangelion's account of how Mary's spouse was chosen by collecting walking sticks of widowers in Palestine, and Joseph's alone bursting into flower, thus identifying him as divinely chosen. Several Eastern Orthodox Nativity icons show Joseph tempted by the Devil (depicted as an old man with furled wings) to break off his betrothal, and how he resists that temptation. There are some paintings with him wearing a Jewish hat.
References
- Brown, Peter (2003). The rise of Western Christendom : triumph and diversity, A.D. 200-1000 (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-22138-7
- Bury, John Bagnell (1905). Life of St. Patrick and his Place in History. London
- Byrne, Francis J. (1973). Irish Kings and High-Kings. London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-5882-8
- Cahill, Thomas (1995). How the Irish Saved Civilization. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-41849-3
- Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2000). Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-36395-0
- Dark, Ken (2000). Britain and the end of the Roman Empire. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2532-3
- De Paor, Liam (1993). Saint Patrick's World: The Christian Culture of Ireland's Apostolic Age. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-144-9
- Duffy, Seán,, ed. (1997). Atlas of Irish History. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 0-7171-3093-2
- Dumville, David (1994). "The Death date of St. Patrick"". In Howlett, David. The Book of Letters of Saint Patrick the Bishop. Dublin: Four Courts Press. ISBN 1-85182-136-8
- Fletcher, Richard (1997). The Conversion of Europe: From Paganism to Christianity 371–1386 AD. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-686302-7
- Hood, A. B. E (1978). St. Patrick: his Writings, and Muirchú's Life. London and Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0-85033-299-0
- Hughes, Kathleen (1972). Early Christian Ireland: Introduction to the Sources. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-16145-0
- Iannello, Fausto (2008). "Note storiche sull'Epistola ad Milites Corotici di San Patrizio". Atti della Accademia Peloritana dei Pericolanti, classe di Lettere, Filosofia e Belle Arti 84: 275–285
- Moran, Patrick Francis Cardinal (1913). "St. Patrick". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- McCaffrey, Carmel (2003). In Search of Ancient Ireland. Chicago: Ivan R Dee. ISBN 978-1-56663-525-7
- MacQuarrie, Alan (1997). The Saints of Scotland: Essays in Scottish Church History AD 450–1093. Edinburgh: John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-446-X
- Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí (1995). Early Medieval Ireland: 400–1200. London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-01565-0
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (1999). Saint Patrick: The Man and his Works. London: S.P.C.K.
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (2000). Celtic Theology. London: Continuum
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (2005). Discovering Saint Patrick. New York: Orbis
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (2005). The Capitula of Muirchu's Vita Patricii: do they point to an underlying structure in the text?. . Analecta Bollandiana 123: 79–89
- O'Loughlin, Thomas (2007). Nagy, J. F.. ed. The myth of Insularity and nationality in Ireland. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 132–140
- O'Rahilly, T. F. (1942). The Two Patricks: A Lecture on the History of Christianity in Fifth-Century Ireland. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
- Stancliffe, Claire (2004). "Patrick (fl. 5th cent.)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21562. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
- Thomas, Charles (1981). Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500. London: Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-1442-1
- Thompson, E. A.; G. B. Caird, Henry Chadwick (ed.) (1980). "St. Patrick and Coroticus". The Journal of Theological Studies 31: 12–27. doi:10.1093/jts/XXXI.1.12.
- Wood, Ian (2001). The Missionary Life: Saints and the Evangelisation of Europe 400-1050. London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-31213-2
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Today's Snippet I: The Happy Death of Saint Joseph
Book 5, Chapter 4
The Mystical City of God, The Divine History and
Life of The Virgin Mother of God
THE HAPPY DEATH OF SAINT JOSEPH.
Already eight years saint Joseph had been exercised by his
infirmities and sufferings, and his noble soul been purified more and more each
day in the crucible of affliction and of divine love. As the time passed his
bodily strength gradually diminished and he approached the unavoidable end, in
which the stipend of death is paid by all of us children of Adam (Heb. 9, 27).
In like manner also increased the care and solicitude of his heavenly Spouse,
our Queen, assisting and serving him with unbroken punctuality. Perceiving, in
her exalted wisdom, that the day and hour for his departure from this cumbrous
earth was very near, the loving Lady betook Herself to her blessed Son and said
to Him: "Lord God Most High, Son of the eternal Father and Savior of the
world, by thy divine light I see the hour approaching which thou hast decreed
for the death of thy servant Joseph. I beseech Thee, by thy ancient mercies and
by thy infinite bounty, to assist him in that hour by thy almighty power. Let
his death be as precious in thy eyes, as the uprightness of his life was
pleasing to Thee, so that he may depart in peace and in the hope of the eternal
reward to be given to him on the day in which Thou shalt open the gates of
heaven for all the faithful. Be mindful, my Son, of the humility and love of thy
servant; of his exceeding great merits and virtues; of the fidelity and
solicitude by which this just man has supported Thee and me, thy humble
handmaid, in the sweat of his brow."
Our Savior answered: "My Mother, thy request is pleasing
to me, and the merits of Joseph are acceptable in my eyes. I will now assist him
and will assign him a place among the princes of my people (Ps. 115, 15), so
high that he will be the admiration of the angels and will cause them and all
men to break forth in highest praise. With none of the human born shall I do as
with thy spouse." The great Lady gave thanks to her sweetest Son for this
promise; and, for nine days and nights before the death of saint Joseph he
uninterruptedly enjoyed the company and attendance of Mary or her divine Son. By
command of the Lord the holy angels, three times on each of the nine days,
furnished celestial music, mixing their hymns of praise with the benedictions of
the sick man. Moreover, their humble but most precious dwelling was filled with
the sweetest fragrance and odors so wonderful that they comforted not only saint
Joseph, but invigorated all the numerous persons who happened to come near the
house.
One day before he died, being wholly inflamed with divine
love on account of these blessings, he was wrapped in an ecstasy which lasted
twenty-four hours. The Lord himself supplied Joseph the strength he needed for this
miracle. In this ecstasy he saw clearly the divine Essence, and, manifested
therein, all that he had believed by faith the incomprehensible Divinity, the
mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption, the militant Church with all its
Sacraments and mysteries. The blessed Trinity commissioned and assigned him as
the messenger of our Savior to the holy Patriarchs and Prophets of limbo; and
commanded him to prepare them for their issuing forth from this bosom of Abraham
to eternal rest and happiness. All this most holy Mary saw reflected in the soul
of her divine Son together with all the other mysteries, just as they had been
made known to her beloved spouse and She offered her sincerest thanks for all
this to her Lord.
When saint Joseph issued from this ecstasy his face shone
with wonderful splendor and his soul was transformed by his vision of the
essence of God. He asked his blessed Spouse to give him her benediction; but She
requested her divine Son to bless him in her stead, which He did. Then the great
Queen of humility, falling on her knees, besought saint Joseph to bless Her, as
being her husband and head. Not without divine impulse the man of God fulfilled
this request for the consolation of his most prudent Spouse. She kissed the hand
with which he blessed Her and asked him to salute the just ones of limbo in her
name. The most humble Joseph, sealing his life with an act of self-abasement,
asked pardon of his heavenly Spouse for all his deficiencies in her service and
love and begged Her to grant him her assistance and intercession in this hour of
passing away. The holy man also rendered humblest thanks to her Son for all the
blessings of his life and especially for those received during this sickness.
The last words which saint Joseph spoke to his Spouse were: "Blessed art
Thou among all women and elect of all the creatures. Let angels and men praise
Thee; let all the generations know, praise and exalt thy dignity; and may in
Thee be known, adored and exalted the name of the Most High through all the
coming ages; may He be eternally praised for having created Thee so pleasing in
his eyes and in the sight of all the blessed spirits. I hope to enjoy thy sight
in the heavenly fatherland."
Then this man of God, turning toward Christ, our Lord, in
profoundest reverence, wished to kneel before Him. But the sweetest Jesus,
coming near, received him in his arms, where, reclining his head upon them,
Joseph said: "My highest Lord and God, Son of the eternal Father, Creator
and Redeemer of the World, give thy blessing to thy servant and the works of thy
hand; pardon, O most merciful King, the faults which I have committed in thy
service and interactions. I extol and magnify Thee and render eternal and
heartfelt thanks to Thee for having, in thy ineffable condescension, chosen me
to be the spouse of thy true Mother; let thy greatness and glory be my
thanksgiving for all eternity." The Redeemer of the world gave him his
benediction, saying: "My father, rest in peace and in the grace of my
eternal Father and mine; and to the Prophets and Saints, who await thee in
limbo, bring the joyful news of the approach of their redemption." At these
words of Jesus, and reclining in his arms, the most fortunate saint Joseph
expired and the Lord himself closed his eyes. At the same time the multitude of
the angels, who attended upon their King and Queen, intoned hymns of praise in
loud and harmonious voices. By command of the Lord they carried his most holy
soul to the gathering-place of the Patriarchs and Prophets, where it was
immediately recognized by all as clothed in the splendors of incomparable grace,
as the putative father and the intimate friend of the Redeemer, worthy of
highest veneration. Conformably to the will and mandate of the Lord, his arrival
spread inutterable joy in this countless gathering of the saints by the
announcement of their speedy rescue.
It is necessary to mention that the long sickness and
sufferings which preceded the death of saint Joseph was not the sole cause and
occasion of his passing away; for with all his infirmities he could have
extended the term of his life, if to them he had not joined the fire of the
intense love within his bosom. In order that his death might be more the triumph
of his love than of the effects of original sin, the Lord suspended the special
and miraculous assistance by which his natural forces were enabled to withstand
the violence of his love during his lifetime. As soon as this divine assistance
was withdrawn, nature was overcome by his love and the bonds and chains, by
which this most holy soul was detained in its mortal body, were at once
dissolved and the separation of the soul from the body in which death consists
took place. Love was then the real cause of the death of saint Joseph, as I have
said above. This was at the same time the greatest and most glorious of all his
infirmities for in it death is but a sleep of the body and the beginning of real
life.
The most fortunate of men, saint Joseph reached an age of
sixty years and a few days. For at the age of thirty-three he espoused the
blessed Virgin lived with Her a little longer than twenty-seven years as her
husband. When saint Joseph died, She had completed the half of her forty-second
year; for She was espoused to saint Joseph at the age of fourteen (as stated in
the first part, book second, chapter twenty-second). The twenty-seven years of
her married life completed her forty-first year, to which must be added the time
from the eighth of September until the death of her blessed spouse. The Queen of
heaven still remained in the same disposition of natural perfection as in her
thirty-third year; for, as already stated in the thirteenth chapter of this
book, She showed no signs of decline, or of more advanced age, or of weakness,
but always in that same most perfect state of womanhood. She felt the natural
sorrow due to the death of saint Joseph; for She loved him as her spouse, as a
man pre-eminent in perfection and holiness, as her protector and benefactor.
I perceive a certain difference in the graces given to this
great Patriarch and those vouchsafed to other saints; for many saints were
endowed with graces and gifts that are intended not for the increase of their
own sanctity, but for the advance of the service of the Most High in other
souls; they were, so to say, gifts and graces freely given and not dependent
upon the holiness of the receiver. But in our blessed Patriarch all the divine
favors were productive of personal virtue perfection; for the mysterious
purpose, toward which they tended and helped along, was closely connected with
the holiness of his own life. The more angelic and holy he grew to be, so much
the more worthy was he to be the spouse of most holy Mary, the depository and
treasure-house of heavenly sacraments. He was to be a miracle of holiness, as he
really was. This marvelous holiness commenced with the formation of his body in
the womb of his Mother. In this the providence of God himself interfered,
regulating the composition of the four radical humors of his body with extreme
nicety of proportion and securing for him that evenly tempered disposition which
made his body a blessed earth fit for the abode of an exquisite soul and
well-balanced mind (Wisdom 8, 19). He was sanctified in the womb of his mother
seven months after his conception, and the leaven of sin was destroyed in him
for the whole course of life, never having felt any impure or disorderly
movement. Although he did not receive the use of his reason together with this
first sanctification, which consisted principally in justification from original
sin, yet his mother at the time felt a wonderful joy of the Holy Ghost. Without
understanding entirely the mystery she elicited great acts of virtue and
believed that her Son, or whomever she bore in her womb, would be wonderful in
the sight of God and men.
The holy child Joseph was born most beautiful and perfect of
body and caused in his parents and in his relations an extraordinary delight,
something like that caused by the birth of saint John the Baptist, though the
cause of it was more hidden. The Lord hastened the use of his reason, perfecting
it in his third year, endowing it with infused science and augmenting his soul
with new graces and virtues. From that time the child began to know God by
faith, and also by natural reasoning and science, as the cause and Author of all
things. He eagerly listened and understood profoundly all that was taught him in
regard to God and his works. At this premature age he already practiced the
highest kinds of prayer and contemplation and eagerly engaged in the exercise of
the virtues proper to his youth ; so that, at the time when others come to the
use of reason, at the age of seven years or more, saint Joseph was a perfect man
in the use of it and in holiness. He was of a kind disposition, loving, affable,
sincere, showing inclinations not only holy but angelic, growing in virtue and
perfection and advancing toward his espousal with most holy Mary by an
altogether irreproachable life.
For the confirmation and increase of his good qualities was
then added the intercession of the blessed Lady; for as soon as She was informed
that the Lord wished Her to enter the married state with him, She earnestly
besought the Lord to sanctify saint Joseph and inspire him with most chaste
thoughts and desires in conformity with her own. The Lord listened to her and
permitted Her to see what great effects his right hand wrought in the mind and
spirit of the patriarch saint Joseph. They were so copious, that they cannot be
described in human words. He infused into his soul the most perfect habits of
all the virtues and gifts. He balanced anew all his faculties and filled him
with grace, confirming it in an admirable manner. In the virtue and perfection
of chastity the holy spouse was elevated higher than the seraphim; for the
purity, which they possessed without body, saint Joseph possessed in his earthly
body and in mortal flesh; never did an image of the impurities of the animal and
sensible nature engage, even for one moment, any of his faculties. This freedom
from all such imaginations and his angelic simplicity fitted him for the
companionship and presence of the most Pure among all creatures, and without
this excellence he would not have been worthy of so great a dignity and rare
excellence.
Also in the other virtues he was wonderfully distinguished,
especially in charity; for he dwelt at the fountainhead of that living water,
which flows on to eternal life (John 4, 14); he was in close proximity to that
sphere of fire and was consumed without resistance. The best that can be said of
the charity of our saint is what I have already said in the preceding chapter
namely, that his love of God was really the cause of his mortal sickness and of
his death. The manner of his death was a privilege of his singular love, for his
sweet sighs of love surpassed and finally put an end to those of his sickness,
being far more powerful. As the objects of his love, Christ and his Mother, were
present with him always and as both of Them were more closely bound to him than
to any of the woman-born, his most pure and faithful heart was unavoidably
consumed by the loving effects of such a close union. Blessed be the Author of
such great wonders and blessed be the most fortunate of mortals, saint Joseph,
who so worthily corresponded to their love. He deserves to be known and extolled
by all the generations of men and all nations since the Lord has wrought such
things with no other man and to none has He shown such love.
The divine visions and revelations vouchsafed to saint
Joseph, I have particularly mentioned in the course of this history (Vol. II
422, 423, 471); but there were many more than can be described, and the greatest
of them was his having known the mysteries of the relation between Christ and
his Mother and his having lived in their company for so many years as the
putative father of the Lord and as the true spouse of the Queen of heaven. But I
have been informed concerning certain other privileges conferred upon saint
Joseph by the Most High on account of his great holiness, which are especially
important to those who ask his intercession in a proper manner. In virtue of
these special privileges the intercession of saint Joseph is most powerful:
first, for attaining the virtue of purity and overcoming the sensual
inclinations of the flesh; secondly, for procuring powerful help to escape sin
and return to the friendship of God; thirdly, for increasing the love and
devotion to most holy Mary; fourthly, for securing the grace of a happy death
and protection against the demons in that hour; fifthly, for inspiring the
demons with terror at the mere mention of his name by his clients; sixthly, for
gaining health of body and assistance in all kinds of difficulties; seventhly,
for securing issue of children in families. These and many other favors God
confers upon those who properly and with good disposition seek the intercession
of the spouse of our Queen, saint Joseph. I beseech all the faithful children of
the Church to be very devout to him and they will experience these favors in
reality, if they dispose themselves as they should in order to receive and merit
them.
WORDS OF THE QUEEN. (The Virgin Mary speaks to Sister Mary of
Agreda, Spain.)
My daughter, although thou hast described my spouse, saint
Joseph, as the most noble among the princes and saints of the heavenly
Jerusalem; yet neither canst thou properly manifest his eminent sanctity, nor
can any of the mortals know it fully before they arrive at the vision of the
Divinity. Then all of them will be filled with wonder and praise as the Lord
will make them capable of understanding this sacrament. On the last day, when
all men shall be judged, the damned will bitterly bewail their sins, which
prevented them from appreciating this powerful means of their salvation, and
availing themselves, as they easily could have, of this intercessor to gain the
friendship of the just Judge. The whole human race has much undervalued the
privileges and prerogatives conceded to my blessed spouse and they know not what
his intercession with God is able to do. I assure thee, my dearest, that he is
one of the greatly favored personages in the divine presence and has immense
power to stay the arms of divine vengeance.
I desire that thou be very thankful to the divine
condescension for vouchsafing thee so much light and knowledge regarding this
mystery, and also for the favor which I am doing thee therein. From now on,
during the rest of thy mortal life, see that thou advance in devotion and in
hearty love toward my spouse, and that thou bless the Lord for thus having
favored him with such high privileges and for having rejoiced me so much in the
knowledge of all his excellences. In all thy necessities thou must avail thyself
of his intercession. Thou shouldst induce many to venerate him and see that thy
own religious distinguish themselves in their devotion. That which my spouse
asks of the Lord in heaven is granted upon the earth and on his intercession
depend many and extraordinary favors for men, if they do not make themselves
unworthy of receiving them. All these privileges were to be a reward for the
amiable perfection of this wonderful saint and for his great virtues; for divine
clemency is favorably drawn forth by them and looks upon saint Joseph with
generous liberality, ready to shower down its marvelous mercies upon all those
who avail themselves of his intercession.
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Today's Snippet II: Traditions of St Josephs Altar
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| St Joseph Altar, New Orleans, LA USA |
In New Orleans, Louisiana, which was a major port of entry for Sicilian immigrants during the late 19th century, the Feast of St. Joseph is a city-wide event. Both public and private St. Joseph's altars are traditionally built. The altars are usually open to any visitor who wishes to pay homage. The food is generally distributed to charity after the altar is dismantled.
Upon a typical St. Joseph's Day altar, people place flowers, limes, candles, wine, fava beans, specially prepared cakes, breads, and cookies (as well as other meatless dishes), and zeppole. Foods are traditionally served containing bread crumbs to represent saw dust since St. Joseph was a carpenter. Because the feast occurs during Lent, traditionally no meat was allowed on the celebration table. The altar usually has three tiers, to represent the trinity.
St Joseph's Altar Design and Traditions
Three Tiered Altar
The Altar is constructed in three tiers, representing the three Persons in the Blessed Trinity. A statue of St Joseph or a picture of the holy Family is always placed onthe tip tier surrounded by flowers, greenery and fruit.
Blessing of the Altar
All of the items on the altar - food, candles, medal, holy cards and fava beans are blessed by a preist in a special ceremony the afternoon before an altar is "broken". That evening people may visit to pray and leave petitions. Donations are collected for the poor.
Fresh Green Branch
At the Place where the altar is erected, a fresh green branch is placed over the door. This indicates that the public is invited to be involved in the ceremony and to share the food.
St Joseph's Bread
A specially prepared bread is blessed and distributed at the altar. This bread is baked in symbolic shapes. It may be eaten but it is often saved. During a storm, a small piece is thrown out and prayers are said in hopes that the storm will abate.
Fava Bean
The gift of a blessed bean is the most well known of the customs associated with St Joseph's altar. During one of Sicily's severe famines, the fava bean thrived while all other crops perished. Originally grown for animal fodder but because of its resilience it became the sustaining food for Sicilian community. Hence, the fava bean has traditionally become known as the "Lucky Bean". Legends says, "Anyone who carries a blessed St Joseph's Altar fava bean will never be without coins" as well as a reminder to pray for the intercession of St Joseph.
Meatless
Meat is never placed nor served on a St Josephs Altar because the feast day occurs during Lent and this altar is representative of the Last Supper. Traditionally, it consists of bread, wine, vegetables and fish.
Broken
The term "broken" means that the beautiful, decorative food is served to the families and friends gathered at the ceremony.
Bags
Small bags are given as keepsakes to all who visit the altar. Each bag may contain a blessed medal, holy card, fava bean, cookies or bread.
Begging
All food on the altar is obtained by begging for donations. The altar must not incur any expense. In the spirit of St Joseph, those who have been favored with good fortune continue to share these blessings with those in need. Donations and food on the altar are sent to the poor. There is never personal profit gained from the altar.
St Joseph's Altar Symbols designed with Breads and Cakes:
Monstrance(Spada) - Holda the Sacred Host
Chalice
Consecration of the Bread and Wine at the Last supper
Cross
Crucifixion of Christ
Dove
The Holy Spirit
Lamb
Jesus, the Lamb of God
Fish
Christian symbol of biblical miracle of feeding the masses with fish by Jesus Christ
Bible
Designed as the open pages of the bible, usually form a cake, the focal point of the altar
Hearts
Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary
Wreathes
Crown of Thorns, Eternity
Palms
Martyrdom and Palm Sunday
St Joseph Symbols (Designed from Breads and Cakes)
Lilies, Staff, Sandals, Beard, Ladder, Saw, Hammer, NailOther Symbols
MudicaBread crumbs sprinkled over the Pasta Milanese representing the sawdust of St Joseph, the Carpenter.
Pignolatti
Fried Pasta molded in the shape of pine cones representing the pine cones that Jesus played with as a child
Twelve Whole Fish
Represents the Twelve Apostles and the miracle of the loaves and fishes
Pupaculova
Baked bread filled with dyed Easter Eggs symbolizing Easter.
Wine
Symbolizng Miracle of Cana
Grapes
Vineyards of Sicily
Olive Oil
Olive Orchards of Sicily
Dried Figs
Fig Orchards of Sicily
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One: Profession of Faith, Sect 2 The Creeds, Ch 3:12:7
CHAPTER THREE
I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
Article 12
"I BELIEVE IN LIFE
EVERLASTING"
PART TWO:
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
Why the
liturgy?
1066
In the Symbol of the faith the Church confesses the mystery of the Holy Trinity
and of the plan of God's "good pleasure" for all creation: the Father
accomplishes the "mystery of his will" by giving his beloved Son and
his Holy Spirit for the salvation of the world and for the glory of his
name.Eph 1:9
Such is the
mystery of Christ, revealed and fulfilled in history according to the wisely
ordered plan that St. Paul calls the "plan of the mystery" Eph 3:9; cf.
⇒ 3:4
and the patristic tradition will call the "economy of the Word
incarnate" or the "economy of salvation."
1067
"The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but
a prelude to the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving
perfect glory to God. He accomplished this work principally by the Paschal
mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection from the dead, and glorious
Ascension, whereby 'dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.'
For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the
cross that there came forth 'the wondrous sacrament of the whole
Church."' SC 5 # 2; cf. St. Augustine, En. in Ps. 138, 2: PL 37, 1784-1785
For this
reason, the Church celebrates in the liturgy above all the Paschal mystery by
which Christ accomplished the work of our salvation.
1068
It is this mystery of Christ that the Church proclaims and celebrates in her
liturgy so that the faithful may live from it and bear witness to it in the
world:
For it is in the liturgy,
especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that "the work of our
redemption is accomplished," and it is through the liturgy especially that
the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the
mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.SC 2
What does
the word liturgy mean?
1069
The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work" or a
"service in the name of/on behalf of the people."
In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in "the work of God."Jn 17:4
Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.
In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in "the work of God."Jn 17:4
Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.
1070
In the New Testament the word "liturgy" refers not only to the
celebration of divine worship but also to the proclamation of the Gospel and to
active charity. Lk 1:23 In all of these situations it is a question of the service
of God and neighbor.
In a liturgical celebration the Church is servant in the image of her Lord, the one "leitourgos";Heb 8:2, 6 she shares in Christ's priesthood (worship), which is both prophetic (proclamation) and kingly (service of charity):
The liturgy then is rightly
seen as an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ.
It involves the presentation of man's sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment in ways appropriate to each of these signs.
In it full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members.
From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of his Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others.
No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree. SC 7 # 2-3
It involves the presentation of man's sanctification under the guise of signs perceptible by the senses and its accomplishment in ways appropriate to each of these signs.
In it full public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and his members.
From this it follows that every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of his Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others.
No other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree. SC 7 # 2-3
Liturgy as
source of life
1071
As the work of Christ liturgy is also an action of his Church. It makes the
Church present and manifests her as the visible sign of the communion in Christ
between God and men. It engages the faithful in the new life of the community
and involves the "conscious, active, and fruitful participation" of
everyone.SC 11
1072
"The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the
Church":SC 9 it must be preceded by evangelization, faith, and
conversion. It can then produce its fruits in the lives of the faithful: new
life in the Spirit, involvement in the mission of the Church, and service to
her unity.
Prayer and
liturgy
1073
The liturgy is also a participation in Christ's own prayer addressed to the
Father in the Holy Spirit. In the liturgy, all Christian prayer finds its
source and goal. Through the liturgy the inner man is rooted and grounded in
"the great love with which [the Father] loved us" in his beloved
Son.Eph 2:4;
⇒ 3:16-17 It is the same "marvelous work of God" that is lived
and internalized by all prayer, "at all times in the Spirit."Eph 6:18
Catechesis
and liturgy
1074
"The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is
directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows."SC 10
It is therefore the privileged place for catechizing the People of God.
"Catechesis is intrinsically linked with the whole of liturgical and sacramental activity, for it is in the sacraments, especially in the Eucharist, that Christ Jesus works in fullness for the transformation of men."John Paul II, CT 23
1075
Liturgical catechesis aims to initiate people into the mystery of Christ (It is
"mystagogy." ) by proceeding from the visible to the invisible, from
the sign to the thing signified, from the "sacraments" to the
"mysteries."
Such catechesis is to be presented by local and regional catechisms.
This Catechism, which aims to serve the whole Church in all the diversity of her rites and cultures,Cf. SC 3-4 will present what is fundamental and common to the whole Church in the liturgy as mystery and as celebration, and then the seven sacraments and the sacramentals.
This Catechism, which aims to serve the whole Church in all the diversity of her rites and cultures,Cf. SC 3-4 will present what is fundamental and common to the whole Church in the liturgy as mystery and as celebration, and then the seven sacraments and the sacramentals.
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