CATECHESIS
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Sunday, August 14, 2022
Dormition of the Mother of God
In the reality of her being the Mother of God, the Church also contemplates the mystery of Mary’s virginity, magnifying her as the “EverVirgin.” In the year 649, the Lateran Council defined “ever-virginity” as virginity before, during, and after the birth of Christ. “[For you were a] Virgin before childbirth, and Virgin in childbirth, and still a Virgin after the childbirth.” With respect to the virginity of the Mother of God, the Church understands her integrity, the wholeness of a person filled with grace, in whom bodily and spiritual aspirations are harmoniously united in the fulfilment of a vocation from God. Her virginity is a virginity of “mind, soul, and body.” Church iconography symbolically portrays the virginity of Mary using stars, which are placed upon her forehead and shoulders. She retained virginity and incorruption even in death, which the Church refers to as her Dormition (Falling-Asleep). “Having fallen asleep in the flesh,” Mary was “awakened” by her Son to life in glory: “You passed into life, for you are the Mother of Life.” The Lord glorified the soul and body of Mary—the first to be divinized from among the human race.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 189
We are unique, free and alive, called to live a love story with God, to make bold and firm decisions, to accept the marvelous risk of loving.
Reviving a dialogue happens not with words, but with silence; not by insisting, but by patiently beginning anew to patiently listen to another person, hearing about their struggles and what they carry inside. The healing of the heart begins with listening.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, August 7, 2022
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cares for us because he truly loves us. We, the Church’s pastors, are asked to show that same generosity in tending the flock, so as to manifest Jesus’ concern for everyone and his compassion for each person's wounds.
The Gospel is preached effectively when life itself speaks and reveals the freedom that sets others free, the compassion that asks for nothing in return, the mercy that silently speaks of Christ.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, July 17, 2022
In the tradition of the Holy Fathers, the primary goal of the Christian’s spiritual life is active and dynamic participation in the divine life. Such participation is called divinization (théosis in Greek). Divinization takes place in the cooperation between the human person and God, and consists of the person’s transfiguration in the Holy Spirit. The grace of transfiguration is granted to those who have completed the path of ascetic purification and live a virtuous life.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 850
Святоотцівська традиція визначає головною метою духовного життя християнина активну й дієву участь у божественному житті.
Таку участь називаємо обожествленням (грецькою теозіс). Обожествлення відбувається у співдії між людиною і Богом і є переображенням людини у Святому Дусі. Благодать переображення дарується тим, які пройшли шлях аскетичного очищення та живуть чеснотливим життям.
Катехизм УГКЦ – Христос наша Пасха # 850
I renew my closeness to the Ukrainian people, who are daily tormented by the brutal attacks that ordinary people are paying for. Let us pray together that God might show the way to put an end to this senseless war!
I invite you to go out and look for those elderly persons who are most alone, at home or in residences where they are guests. Let's make sure no one feels alone. Visiting the elderly who live alone is a work of mercy in our time!
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, July 10, 2022
WE ARE CREATED FOR INTIMACY AND COMMUNION WITH GOD
God created human beings in his image and likeness. He thus called them to enter into communion with him. The Lord revealed to his people his desire to communicate with them, and his desire is to hear them respond to his Word. He longs for his people to come to know him in love; he wants to fill them with his love.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 331
The entire Old Covenant is the expression of God’s desire to raise human beings to intimacy with him. The Old Testament law and commandments, the temple and sacrifices, the holy days—all these had as their goal the creation of appropriate conditions for human intimacy with God.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 332
Бог сотворив людину на Свій образ і подобу, покликавши її до спілкування із Собою. Господь відкрив людям Своє прагнення спілкуватися з ними, чути їхні відповіді на Свої слова. Він прагне, щоб люди в любові пізнавали Його, і хоче наповнити їх Своєю любов’ю.
Катехизм УГКЦ – Христос наша Пасха # 331
Увесь Старий Завіт свідчить про прагнення Бога піднести людину до спілкування з Ним. Старозавітні Закон і заповіді, храм і жертвоприношення, свята – усе це створювало умови для спілкування людини з Богом.
Катехизм УГКЦ – Христос наша Пасха # 332
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Every day God passes by and sows a seed in the soil of our lives. Making that seed grow depends on us, on our prayer, on the open heart with which we approach the Scriptures so that it might become for us the Living Word of God.
Brothers, sisters, let us not place our trust in wealth and not fear our poverties, material and human. The more we are free and simple, the more the Holy Spirit gudies the mission and makes us agents of his wonders.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, July 3, 2022
May the supplications of the ancient righteous ones of the land of Ukraine and the sufferings of our confessors of the Holy Gospel rise as fragrant incense before the throne of the Most High; for it is by their sacrifices that the Church of Christ in Ukraine is regenerated and strengthened.
Stichera of Litiya, Feast of Saints of Ukraine
With a history of more than a thousand years, the Kyivan Church glories in a vast assembly of saints. In the words of Patriarch Josyf, “the Ukrainian Church’s witness of faith in Christ and his one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, was confirmed by the bloodied seal of a fearless profession, and suffering; by martyrdom and the mountains [of bodies] of our sacrificed people.” Truly, the “blood of martyrs,” known and unknown, became the “seed of the Church.”
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 322
Among the martyrs of our Church, a special place of honour is given to the hieromartyr Josaphat, Archbishop of Polotsk, who suffered for the unity of Christ’s Church in the time of the Union of Brest. His personage as a passion-bearer is an example of self-sacrifice for the sake of reconciliation. Like Saints Borys and Hlib, he preferred to sacrifice his own life than to see the shedding of his brothers’ blood.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 323
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Every day I carry in my heart the dear and tormented Ukraine, which continues to be scourged by barbaric attacks. Let us pray together that the Lord open those paths of dialogue that men are unwilling or unable to find!
During difficult moments, let us not close in on ourselves, shutting Jesus out. Let us seek Jesus, return to him, to his forgiveness, to those wounds that have healed us. In this way, we too will become capable of compassion, of approaching the wounds of others.
The Christian faith is fundamentally an encounter with Jesus Christ. If we truly believe in Jesus, we must try to act like Jesus did: encounter others, encounter our neighbours, so as to share the saving truth of the Gospel with them.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, June 19, 2022
In the Holy Mystery of Repentance, God grants the Christian growth in the grace of Baptism and the virtues. The closer we come to God, we see our own weaknesses and sinfulness more clearly and thus feel the need for more frequent Confession. According to the spiritual Fathers, if a person confesses rarely, he or she gradually loses the capacity to distinguish between good and evil, which has negative consequences for his or her whole life
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 460
In the Eucharist, Christ offers us participation in his life, a life both divine and human (i.e., theandric). He does this out of merciful love, not because of our merits. The highest expression of this love is Christ’s sacrifice in blood on Golgotha, the memorial of which is the bloodless sacrifice—the Eucharist. “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish” (1 Pt 1:18-19).
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 442
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And let us not forget the suffering of the Ukrainian people. I would like you all to keep in mind a question: what am I doing today for the Ukrainian people? Do I pray? Am I doing something? Am I trying to understand? Each one of you, answer in your heart.
We need to dream even as a Church. We need enthusiasm, we need the passion of youth, to be witnesses of God who is always young!
In the Body and Blood of Christ, we find his presence, his life given for each of us. He not only gives us help to go forward, but he gives us himself: he enters into our affairs, he visits us when we are lonely, giving us back a sense of enthusiasm.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, June 19, 2022
On Sunday the Church of Christ celebrates the Lord’s Day, which the Church Fathers called “little Pascha.” Through Baptism the believer becomes a partaker in the Paschal Mystery. He or she also becomes inwardly tied to the Liturgy of the Church.
Thus, every Christian is called to participate in its celebration. Our participation in the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and holy days is a manifestation and confirmation of unity with God and the Church in faith and love. Therefore, the Lord instructs us in the third Commandment: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy”516 (see Ex 20:8; Dt 5:12).
In addition to participating in the Divine Liturgy and other services, faithful Christians celebrate the holy Day of the Lord by deepening their knowledge of the faith, refraining from hard work, and performing acts of mercy (visiting the sick, the infirm, helping the needy, etc.).
By celebrating the Lord’s Day, we as Christians openly profess our faith, acknowledge ourselves to be a new creation in Christ and members of his Body, the Church; and we await “a new heaven and a new earth” (see Rev 21:1).
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 83
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Let us not forget the people of Ukraine battered by war. Let us not become accustomed to live as though the war is something far off. Let us pray together for these people who are suffering so much and who are living a true martyrdom.
Jesus knows our strengths and our defects, and is always ready to care for us, to heal the wounds of our errors with the abundance of his grace.
Jesus speaks in silence in the Mystery of the Eucharist. He reminds us every time that following him means going out of ourselves and not making our life a possession of our own, but rather a gift to him and to others.
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Sunday, May 15, 2022
The Holy Mystery of Repentance (Sacrament of Confession)
Ongoing repentance is not about focusing on one’s faults and offenses. It is first of all about discovering God’s love. In the light of God’s love we realize to what extent sin separates us from him and prevents us from abiding in his love. “The one who sins does so because they do not appreciate the value and importance of God’s grace. To bring someone to repentance one must first of all clearly and fundamentally show them the magnitude of God’s gift, which they lose through grave sin.” {Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, До духовенства [Letter to the Clergy] (March 15, 1935)}
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 454
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The Holy Mystery of the Eucharist
The Divine Liturgy is the memorial, the continuance, of the Mystical Supper: “Accept me this day, O Son of God, as a partaker of your Mystical Supper.” Just as Christ offered the apostles Communion in his Body and Blood at the Mystical Supper, so at the Liturgy he offers us Communion: “When, therefore, you see the priest delivering [the supper] unto you, account not that it is the priest that does so, but that it is Christ’s hand that is stretched out.” {Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, 50, 3} The Communion of the Apostles icon, as also the icon of the Mystical Supper, depicts that which takes place at the Liturgy: Christ is offering the Communion of his Body and Blood to his apostles, who represent all the faithful. At the Liturgy, before Communion the priest prays: “Deign to give to us with your mighty hand your most pure Body and precious Blood, and through us to all the people.”
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 435
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Sunday, May 8, 2022
The descent of Christ into Hades completes the salvation of the entire world, “heaven, earth, and the world beneath.” { Floral Triodion, Sunday of Holy Pascha, Paschal Matins, Canon of Pascha, Ode 3.} In his Incarnation, God descends from the heavenly to the earthly, and through death he further descends into the very depths of the underworld, to fill all things with himself. “You were bodily in the tomb, in Hades with your soul as God, in Paradise with the thief, and enthroned with the Father and the Spirit. O Christ, you fill all things but are contained by none.” {Liturgicon, The Divine Liturgy of our Holy Father John Chrysostom, Prayer at the Great Incensation.} By dying and descending into Hades, Christ the God-man reveals himself as the Resurrection and the Life: he awakens Adam from the sleep of sin and leads him into Paradise. Therefore, he “who apprehends the mystery of the cross and the burial apprehends the inward essences of created things; while he who is initiated into the inexpressible power of the Resurrection apprehends the purpose for which God first established everything.” { Maximus the Confessor, On Theology and the Incarnation of the Son of God, I, 66: PG 90, 1107.}
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 231
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I ask everyone to increase their prayers for peace and to have the courage to say, to show that peace is possible. Political leaders, please, listen to the voice of the people who want peace, not an escalation of the conflict.
When we bring peace to someone who is suffering physically or spiritually, when we spend some time listening, being present, or consoling someone, we encounter Jesus who repeats to us through the eyes of all those who are weighed down by the trials of life: Peace be with you!
A Christianity that seeks the Lord among the ruins of the past and encloses him in the tomb of habit is a Christianity without Easter.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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In the celebration of the Holy Mystery of Repentance, the Church actualizes the words of the Lord to the apostles: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” ( Jn 20:22-23). Every priest continues the apostolic ministry in the Mystery of Repentance when he absolves the faithful of their sins and reconciles them with the Church. The priest pronounces the prayer of absolution (the loosing from the bondage of sin) and every penitent thereby receives Christ’s forgiveness.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 450
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The Mystery of the Eucharist (Holy Communion) is the third of the Mysteries of Christian initiation. In the Eucharist the newly baptized, who was born in Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit, receives the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ at the holy Eucharis[1]tic table. But unlike Baptism and Chrismation, which we receive only once, we receive the Mystery of the Eucharist throughout our lives, since it is through this Mystery that we grow in the grace received in Baptism and Chrismation—the grace to be sons and daughters of God. For this reason our Church offers Communion to the newly baptized.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 431
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Sunday, April 10, 2022
Let us not forget the children who have had to flee and come to a foreign land: this is one of the fruits of war. Let us not forget them, and let us not forget the Ukrainian people.
They are victims whose innocent blood cries to Heaven and implores: put an end to this war! Silence the weapons! Stop sowing death and destruction!
The recent news from Ukraine, reports new atrocities, like the massacre in Bucha: ever more horrendous cruelty done even against defenseless civilians, women and children.
Let us pray together for peace, thinking of the humanitarian tragedy in war-torn Ukraine, which continues to be bombarded. Let us not tire of praying and offering assistance to those who suffer!
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, April 3, 2022
War doesn’t devastate only the present but the future too. From the start of the aggression in Ukraine 1 of every 2 children has been displaced. This destroys the future, traumatizing the smallest and most innocent. This is the bestiality of war, a barbarous and sacrilegious act!.
Let us pray together untiringly to the Queen of Peace, to whom we consecrated humanity, in particular Russia and Ukraine, with such a large and intense participation for which I thank all of you.
We need to reject war, a place of death where fathers and mothers bury their children, where men kill their brothers and sisters without even having seen them, where the powerful decide and the poor die.
We should not accustom ourselves to war. Instead, we need to convert today’s anger into a commitment for tomorrow, because if, after what is happening, we remain like we were before, we will all be guilty in some way.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 2022
“Innocent children’s blood is ‘on the hands of the criminals who began this war”
Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk
Lent is a journey of healing, to live each day with a renewed spirit, a different “style”. Prayer, charity and fasting are aids to this: they restore us to a living relationship with God, our brothers and sisters, and ourselves.
The city that bears the name of the Virgin Mary, Mariupol, has become a city martyred by the ruinous war that is devastating Ukraine. #LetsPrayTogether #Ukraine #Peace
Before the barbarism of killing children and innocent and defenceless citizens, no strategic reasons hold: the only thing to be done is to cease the unacceptable armed aggression before cities are reduced to cemeteries. #LetsPrayTogether #Ukraine #Peace
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, March 13, 2022
I would also like to thank the journalists who put their lives at risk to provide information. Thank you, brothers and sisters, for this service that allows us to be close to the tragedy of that population and enables us to assess the cruelty of a war. #Ukraine#Peace
Rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine. It is not merely a military operation, but a war, which sows death, destruction, and misery. The number of victims is increasing, as are the people fleeing, especially mothers and children. The need for humanitarian assistance in that troubled country is growing dramatically by the hour.
The Holy See is ready to do everything, to put itself at the service of this peace… “War is madness! Stop, please! Look at this cruelty!
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, March 6, 2022
Let us ask the Queen of Peace to spread her mantle over us: under your protection we seek refuge. Holy Mother of God: do not despise our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin! #PrayTogether #Ukraine #Peace
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, February 27, 2022
PRAYER FOR PEACE IN UKRAINE
Heavenly Father, Your Son taught us “Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called Children of God”. In this time of great worry, we fervently pray that You show your mercy to people of Ukraine. We pray for children, elderly, adults, soldiers, political leaders – please keep them safe and free from injury!
Bless the President of Ukraine and give him and all leaders wisdom and strength!
O most merciful God, do not let chaos and war reign in our homeland!
We pray for the soldiers that they may have the strength and perseverance to defend Ukraine and the democratic values in the world!
Help us all to live according to your Divine Will!
We beseech you to comfort the suffering, heal the wounded and receive the souls of the departed soldiers and civilians into Your Heavenly Kingdom.
Most Holy Mother of God protect our brothers and sisters in Ukraine!
Our Father …. (3 times)
Hail Mary …. (3 times)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen!__
Peace is a gift from God. It is not merely the absence of war. Peace cannot be attained without the defense of people’s welfare as well as unfettered communication among them. It also requires respect for the dignity of individuals and nations, as well as a constant fostering of fraternal fellowship. Peace is a matter of justice and the fruit of love.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 986
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Every war leaves our world worse than it was before. War is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil.
Pope Francis, “Fratelli Tutti” All Brothers – Encyclical 2020
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I invite everyone to make this coming 2nd March, Ash Wednesday, a Day of Fasting for Peace: let believers dedicate themselves intensively to prayer and fasting. May the Queen of Peace preserve the world from the madness of war.
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I would like to appeal to those with political responsibilities to make a serious examination of conscience before God, who is the God of peace and not of war, the Father of all, not just of some, who wants us to be brothers and not enemies. #Ukraine #Peace
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Sunday, February 20, 2022
It is very important to bring together the wisdom of the elderly and the enthusiasm of the young. The encounter between grandparents and grandchildren is key, especially in this moment of economic and social crisis that humanity is undergoing.
The elderly should be cared for like a treasure of humanity: they are our wisdom, our memory. It is crucial that grandchildren remain close to their grandparents, who are like roots from which they draw the sap of human and spiritual values.
May the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, witnesses of a Christianity still united and full of zeal for the preaching of the Gospel, help us to persevere on our journey by fostering our fraternal communion in the name of Jesus.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, February 13, 2022
In our Church, the Divine Liturgy is served according to three orders, those of the bishops, Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Basil the Great, and that of the Presanctified Gifts. Ordinarily it is the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom that is celebrated. The Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is celebrated ten times a year, namely: on all five Sundays of Great Lent, on Great and Holy Thursday, on Great and Holy Saturday, on the eves of Christmas and Theophany, and on the feast of Saint Basil the Great. From Monday to Friday during Great Lent, as a sign of the anticipation of Christ’s Pascha and glorious second coming, the Church does not offer the Eucharistic oblation, that is, the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom or Saint Basil the Great.
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Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 393
Let us continue to implore the God of peace that tensions and threats of war be overcome through serious dialogue. Let’s not forget: war is madness!
Our Christian way of looking at others refuses to see them as a burden or a problem, but rather as brothers and sisters to be helped and protected.
Closeness is a precious balm that provides support and consolation to the sick in their suffering. As Christians, we experience that closeness as a sign of the love of Jesus Christ, the Good Samaritan, who draws near with compassion to every man and woman.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2022
International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: January 18-25: The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2022 was selected by the Middle East Council of Churches and originates from the churches in Lebanon. Present times in Lebanon are extremely difficult and economically disastrous. All this combined with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have made the situation quite stressful. The power of prayer in solidarity with those who suffer is a demonstration of Christian unity and a sign of communion.
The theme, taken from the second chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, is the Epiphany. Each year in January, the Church recalls the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem, highlighting God’s invitation to all of humanity to a new covenant in the Incarnation of Christ. In the Eastern Churches, Epiphany is joined to the mystery of the Baptism of Christ, a baptism all Christians hold in common as testimony to their faith in the Son of God.
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In his providence, God envisaged the transmission of his Revelation also in written form. This would give the opportunity to preserve his Revelation unchangeable, and to transmit it from generation to generation throughout human history. People inspired by God transcribed God’s word forming the Bible (from the Greek Biblia, meaning books), which we call Holy Scripture. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful” (2 Tm 3:16). Holy Scripture is the Word of God addressed to every human being. Therefore, it is relevant in every time and every place. The Holy Scriptures are a collection of books, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by holy people, which the Church of Christ has received and preserves as the Word of God. These books comprise the canon of Holy Scripture, which the Church has identified in the light of Apostolic Tradition. This canon includes 47 books of the Old Testament and 27 of the New Testament
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 38
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Praying together for one another and cooperating in charity with one another for the sake of this world which God loves so much: this is the most concrete route to full unity.
The Word brings us close to God. Let us carry it with us always, in a place where we can remember to open it daily, so that amid all those words that ring in our ears, there may also be a few verses of the Word of God that can touch our hearts.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 16, 2022
Immediately after their fall, God announces to Adam and Eve his promise of salvation. Inasmuch as the human race was deceived by the tempter by trusting in him, God sets enmity, a struggle between them, to safeguard humanity from total subordination to evil: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers” (Gn 3:15). In this struggle, God promises humanity the ultimate victory: “He [i.e., the offspring of the woman] will strike your [i.e., the serpent’s] head” (Gn 3:15). In the contest between good and evil, in the end, good shall overcome, as personified by the offspring of the woman. The assurance of this victory emerges not from human efforts, but from the very Word of God, given in the promise. This first proclamation of the Good News about the salvation of the human race is what the Church calls the Protoevangelium.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 160
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We are living in a difficult time, many people are facing difficulties and suffering. In a time like this, we need someone who can encourage us, help us, inspire us. Saint Joseph is a bright witness in dark times. Let us turn to him to find our way again.
To really know people, we need to recognize them and recognize that each of them bears the inviolable beauty of a son or daughter of God, a reflection of the Creator’s image.
Sometimes, looking at our lives, we see only the things we lack and forget the talents we possess. Yet God gave them to us because He trusts us and asks us to make the most of the present moment, not yearning for the past, but waiting industriously for His return.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022
SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 2022
The Theophany at the Jordan is liturgically connected with the feast of the Nativity. In her celebration of both these events, Church tradition emphasizes that both the Incarnation and the Baptism of the Lord are when God appears (in Greek, theophania). In accordance with the text of the Great Blessing of Water at Theophany, “in the preceding feast we have seen you as a babe, and in this present feast as perfect human, appearing as our perfect God.” At the Nativity, God the Word “was born,” but now he “appears in the flesh to the human race.” At the Nativity, the “Sun of Righteousness” rose, and now it “shines forth.” In the liturgical tradition of the Church, the feast of Theophany is also called the feast of Illumination. The sticheras of the feast of Theophany elucidate the bond between the feasts of the Nativity and Theophany: What was announced by the angel is now announced to the people by the Baptist; the spilling of infant blood caused Bethlehem to become childless, but through the sanctified waters of baptism, the Jordan now has many children. What was announced by the star to the magi in Bethlehem is now revealed to the world by the Father himself
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 198
Humans as rational beings are capable of understanding the aim and consequences of their actions. As a Christian grows spiritually, communicating with the Creator, he or she acquires an ever deeper sense and knowledge of self, and better understands that one’s actions can either bring one closer to or further away from God. Such a “walking before the face of God,” that is, a life in constant interaction with God, is the very foundation of Christian consciousness.
God was born a child in order to encourage us to care for others. His disarming love reminds us that our time is not to be spent in feeling sorry for ourselves, but in comforting the tears of the suffering.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2021
As we sing in the divine services of the feast of the Nativity of Christ, God the Word, in the Incarnation, deigned to limit himself in time - “The beginningless Word mysteriously accepts a beginning”—and in space - “The Uncontainable is contained by flesh.” Christ accepted the humility of childhood to counterbalance Adam’s choice of self-exaltation. When the Virgin received in her womb the Word of God, her womb became a noetic paradise [noetic, from the Greek nous, meaning mind or intellect]. Her womb was thus a place of encounter between God and humanity. The ewe-lamb carried the great Shepherd in her womb; and then in the cave, Christ—the Tree of Life—blossomed from the Virgin. The wall of partition separating humanity from God and earth from heaven is now removed. Heaven announces this to the earth through “the voice of the star” and “the starry host”—the angels. The stable itself becomes a royal palace, and the manger a royal throne. Jesus is bound in swaddling clothes in order to unbind humanity from the chains of sin. Although it had been fallen, the royal image of humanity is now being renewed to its fullness in the Resurrection.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 193
Let us allow ourselves to be evangelized by the humility of Christmas, of the manger, of the poverty and simplicity with which the Son of God entered the world. Let us allow ourselves to be evangelized by the humility of the Child Jesus.
This is the lesson of Christmas: humility is the great condition for faith, for the spiritual life and for holiness. May the Lord grant it to us as a gift.
The mystery of Christmas is the mystery of God who enters the world by the path of humility.
Jesus is the name and the face of the love of God who came to dwell among us. I hope that each of you might have the desire of seeking Him and the joy of finding Him this Christmas.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2021
Advent invites us to prepare ourselves for Christmas, welcoming Jesus without fear. If we open wide the doors of our life, everything takes on a new light and our family, work, suffering, health, friendship, become opportunities to discover His consoling presence.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2021
The Church reveals that she is catholic (from the Greek katholike, meaning according to the whole or fullness) when she gathers the community of faithful around the Eucharistic table. The assembled community of the Church creates the Eucharist, and the Eucharist creates the Church. This happens in the communion of the faithful with Christ and of the faithful with each other: “And what do they become who partake of it? The Body of Christ: not many bodies, but one body. For as the bread consisting of many grains is made one ... so are we conjoined both with each other and with Christ.” The Eucharistic gathering is presided over by the bishop—the “vicar of Christ.” He is the presider (the one who stands in the first place) in as much as he stands before God and heads the liturgical gathering. At the same time, he is also the icon of God for the community. His primacy in the community gathered at the Eucharistic agape, that is, the “feast of love,” is a primacy in love. Since the bishop presides at the Eucharist, which is realized in a specific local community, he heads the local Church (eparchy): “Let no one do anything connected with the Church without the bishop.” The bishop is the head of the eparchy as Christ is the Head of the Church. The bishop’s title identifies the city of the episcopal throne, which is the place where he actualizes the celebration of the Eucharist.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 290
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In her humility, Mary she knows she receives everything from God. Therefore, free from herself, she is completely turned toward God and others. Mary Immaculate does not look on herself. This is true humility: not looking on oneself, but looking toward God and others.
In this Season of Advent, let us ask the Lord, through the fatherly intercession of Saint Joseph, to remain always like sentinels in the night, attentive to see the light of Christ in our poorest brothers and sisters.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2021
The Father reveals and grants us eternal life through his Son in the Holy Spirit. This life of the new creation becomes accessible to us not only after death, but even now. Through the Holy Mysteries of Baptism and Chrismation, along with the Eucharist, we are united to Christ. In him we become heirs of divine life, bearers of the Holy Spirit, who reveals to us the full truth of Christ. The Spirit leads us along the paths of Christ’s commandments and prays within us: “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15). Through these Holy Mysteries we become members of the Body of Christ and temples of the Holy Spirit.
Catechism Christ our Pascha # 409
In his conversation with Nicodemus, Christ speaks of the inauguration of the new life as a process of being “born anew” or “from above” (see Jn 3:3). This new birth is a birth “of water and the Spirit” ( Jn 3:5). Performed by water in the liturgical rite, it becomes a reality through the Holy Spirit’s power. Baptism is for us the beginning of the fullness of life for which we were created:
“John preached a baptism of repentance and the whole of Judea went out to him. The Lord proclaims a baptism of the adoption of sons. Among those who place their hope in [the Lord], who will not obey? The baptism of John was preliminary, that of Jesus a crowning accomplishment. The baptism of John was a break with sin; that of Jesus was union with God.”
In Baptism, God not only saves us from sin, but also grants us the inestimable treasures of new life.
Catechism Christ our Pascha # 410
The way of peace, which reconciles conflicts and regenerates fraternity, is marked by dialogue. We ought to help one another to believe in the patient and unassuming power of dialogue. I is not an easy road, but there is no other way to achieve reconciliation.
The Beatitudes are the perennial charter of Christianity, the compass that indicates the routes that Christians must take in the voyage of life. When they are lived out, the Gospel becomes youthful and fills society with fresh hope
We are brothers and sisters, loved by a single Father. We need to work together to build a future worthy of humanity, to overcome divisions and work for unity. We need to welcome and integrate one another, and to walk together as brothers and sisters, all of us!
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2021
Participation in the life of the Most Holy Trinity becomes a reality for us through the Holy Mysteries of Baptism, Chrismation, and Eucharist. In other words, we partake of God’s life by being united to Christ, receiving the seal of the Holy Spirit, and sharing the Body and Blood of Christ in the community called Church. As a person after birth begins to breathe and then receives nourishment in order to live, so the newly baptized, born to new life in the baptismal font, begins to breathe by the Holy Spirit and receives the nourishment of Holy Communion in order to grow in Christ. Through the prayers and sacred actions of the liturgical rite of each of these Mysteries, the Church leads the faithful (the Greek Fathers speak of mystagogy - leading into the mystery) into an understanding of the Mystery and perceiving it as a single, unified action of God’s grace. This is why in the tradition of the Eastern Church, these three Holy Mysteries are celebrated together.
Catechism Christ our Pascha # 408
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2021
A person who is generous, helpful, meek, patient, not envious, does not gossip, brag, or lack respect (cf. 1 Cor 13:4-7), this is a person who builds Heaven on earth. That person may not be noticed, and yet, what he or she does will not be lost because good lasts forever.
Let us bring an outlook of hope to our world. Let us bring it with tenderness to the poor, without judging them. For there, with them, is Jesus; because there, in them, is Jesus, who awaits us.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2021
It is time to develop a new form of universal solidarity that is grounded in fraternity, love, and mutual understanding: one that values people over profit, one that seeks new ways to understand development and progress.
Being a member of the people of God is a gift, a responsibility: the responsibility of witnessing by our deeds, not just our words, to God’s wonderful works, which, once known, help people to acknowledge his existence and to receive his salvation.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, November 7, 2021
In the Litany of Peace we bring before the Lord the Church’s prayer for the whole world. This is the way the liturgical assembly affirms the manifestation of God’s kingdom. The Church’s prayer for the world is an expression of faith that all is in the hands of the Lord. It also expresses our readiness to accept from the Lord whatever answer he might wish to give. The name of the Litany of Peace indicates the need for inner peace and reconciliation with all. The first petition of the Litany indicates that Christ himself is our peace (see Eph 2:14) and that it is in him that we pray. The petitions of the Litany of Peace express concern for the good of the Church, of the country in which we live, and of all creation. The Litany of Peace teaches the faithful to place common needs before private ones. The prayer “Lord, have mercy,” repeated by the faithful as the community’s response to the petitions, includes both the request for God’s merciful love and the community’s faith that he unfailingly proffers that love.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 359
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Love is the supreme rule for following the path of Christ, it makes us aware of our weakness, and merciful and in solidarity with the difficulties and weaknesses of others.
Do not be afraid to set your sights higher, to allow yourself to be loved and liberated by God. Do not be afraid to let yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit. Holiness does not make you less human, since it is an encounter between your weakness and the power of God’s grace
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2021
Grace acts where an individual provides personal assent. All stages of the spiritual life require cooperation between human freedom and the grace of God. Grace cannot be achieved or merited as a result of zealous spiritual labour. Such labour is necessary, but God’s grace is given to a person solely as a gift, and not as a reward for something. The very essence of relations between God and the human race is reflected in the giving of grace.
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 745
Благодать діє там, де є особиста згода людини. На всіх етапах духовного життя виявляється співдія свободи людини і благодаті Божої. Благодать не можна здобути чи заслужити як наслідок ревної духовної праці. Така праця є потрібною, але Божа благодать дається людині тільки як дар, а не як винагорода за щось. У даруванні благодаті відображається сама суть відносин Бога і людини.
Катехизм УГКЦ – Христос наша Пасха # 745
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To live out a mission means cultivating the sentiments that Jesus has, to believe with Him that those around me are also my brothers and sisters. May His love reawaken our hearts and make us all true missionary disciples.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, October 24, 2021
Priestly ministry in the Church has a hierarchical structure, the essence of which is most fully manifested in the celebration of the Eucharist. In the Eucharistic assembly the bishop, as successor of the apostles, presides; the presbyters concelebrate with the bishop, while the deacons assist the bishop and the presbyters. Saint Ignatius of Antioch stresses the importance of the hierarchical ministry in the Church: “I exhort you to study to do all things with a divine harmony, while your bishop presides in the place of God, and your presbyters in the place of the assembly of the apostles, along with your deacons, who are most dear to me, and are entrusted with the ministry of Jesus Christ.” {Ignatius of Antioch – Epistle to the Magnesians 6, 1} “Apart from these [i.e., the bishops, presbyters, and deacons] there is no Church.” {Ignatius of Antioch – Epistle to the Trallians 3, 1}
Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 491
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Prayer is like the oxygen of life. Prayer draws down upon us the presence of the Holy Spirit who always leads us forward.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2021
The Lord has liberated us from slavery freely, and set us on the path to walk in the fullness of freedom.
Let us invoke the Holy Spirit with greater fervor and frequency, and humble listen to him, journeying together as He, the source of communion and mission, desires: with docility and courage.
True encounter arises only from listening.
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Sunday, October 10, 2021
If peoples are to remain brothers and sisters, prayer must rise unceasingly to Heaven, and one single word constantly echo on earth: peace.
Freedom makes free to the extent to which it transforms a person’s life and directs it toward the good.
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2021
Life is a gift, and when it is long it is a privilege. The “wealth of many years” is a wealth in terms of the persons themselves, their experience and history.
Let us pray together that every baptized person may be engaged in evangelization, available to the mission, by being witnesses of a life that has the flavour of the Gospel.
Fighting against the terrible scourge of hunger means also fighting waste. To throw food away means to throw people away. It is scandalous today not to notice how precious food is as a good, and how so much good ends up so badly
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Sunday, September 26, 2021
Saints are witnesses whom we venerate and who in thousands of different ways bring us to Jesus Christ, the only Lord and Mediator between God and humanity. They remind us that holiness can blossom even in our lives, however weak and marked by sin.
Witnesses do not lose themselves in words, but rather they bear fruit. They do not complain about others and the world, but start with themselves. They remind us that God is not to be proven, but shown; not announced with proclamations but witnessed by example.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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Sunday, September 5, 2021
In the Gospel of the day, Jesus cautions us about a religiosity of appearances: looking good on the outside, while failing to purify the heart. He does not want outward appearances. He wants to put faith back at the center. He wants a faith that touches the heart.
As Christians the situation in Afghanistan obligates us. In historic moments like this, we cannot remain indifferent. For this reason, I address an appeal to everyone to intensify your prayer and practice fasting, asking the Lord for mercy and forgiveness.
Pope Francis @Pontifex
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SUNDAY, AUGUST 22,