Tag: John Paul II
Canonization date of late Popes to be announced in September
Vatican City, Aug 20, 2013 / 03:53 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis plans to hold a consistory Sept. 30 to formally approve the sainthood of Blesseds John Paul II and John XXIII, during which the official date of the canonizations will be announced. Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints,… Read More ›
Psalm 20(19): Grant victory, O Lord!
1. The final invocation: “Give victory to the king, O Lord, give answer on the day we call” (Ps 20[19]: 10), reveals to us the origin of Psalm 20[19] that we have just heard and upon which we will now meditate. We are looking, therefore, at a royal Psalm of ancient Israel that was proclaimed during a… Read More ›
And he was transfigured before them …
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him…. Read More ›
Psalm 16(15): My Happiness lies in you alone
1. After hearing it and making it a prayer, we have the opportunity to meditate on a Psalm that is charged with strong spiritual tension. Despite the difficulties the original Hebrew text presents, especially in the first verses, Psalm 16[15] is a luminous canticle with a mystical dimension, as the profession of faith at the… Read More ›
Emotional Pornography
Sex sells. Marketing in our culture is almost exclusively based on sex. We have known this for years, and although we think we are stronger than corporate marketing strategies, we (men) still fall easy prey to GoDaddy super bowl ads and Victoria’s Secret ceiling-high mall pinups. When I say “easy prey,” I don’t mean we all… Read More ›
Psalm 8: O Lord, Our Lord
1. In meditating on Psalm 8, a wonderful hymn of praise, we come to the end of our long journey through the Psalms and Canticles that make up the prayerful heart of the Liturgy of Lauds. In these catecheses, we have reflected on 84 biblical prayers whose spiritual intensity we have especially tried to emphasize, without overlooking… Read More ›
Psalm 15(14): To dwell on ‘your holy mountain’
1. Psalm 15[14] that is presented for our reflection is often classified by biblical scholars as part of an “entrance” liturgy. Like several other compositions in the Psaltery (cf., for example, Psalms 23; 25; 94), it prompts us to imagine a sort of procession of the faithful jostling to pass through the door of the… Read More ›
Psalm 11: A prayer to trust the Lord
1. We continue our reflection on the Psalms, which comprise the essential element of the Liturgy of Vespers. We have just made ring out in our hearts Psalm 11[10], a brief prayer of trust that, in the original Hebrew, is studded with the holy name ‘Adonaj, the Lord. This name echoes at the beginning (cf. v. 1), is found… Read More ›
Psalm 8: How Great Is Your Name through all the earth
1. “Man …, at the heart of this enterprise, is revealed to us as gigantic. He seems to be divine, not in himself, but in his beginning and his end. Honour, therefore, to man, honour to his dignity, to his spirit, to his life”. With these words, in July 1969, Paul VI entrusted to the American… Read More ›
The heart of the Virgin of Nazareth
. . .For if we feel a special need, in this difficult and responsible phase of the history of the Church and of mankind, to turn to Christ, who is Lord of the Church and Lord of man’s history on account of the mystery of the Redemption, we believe that nobody else can bring us… Read More ›