Oct 13 Mon - What is all about relics?

 

Oct 13 Mon
What is all about relics?
Seven questions about relics and their veneration.

To an outsider, the tradition of venerating relics may seem strange; however, the roots of the practice are found in Scripture as well as in the ancient tradition of the Church.

- What is a relic?
A relic is a physical object that had a direct association with Jesus Christ or with a saint.

- Why do Catholics venerate relics?
Catholics venerate the relics of saints as a way to honor the saints’ inspiring faith. As Catholics, we strive to become saints ourselves and are encouraged to imitate the lives of the saints in our own daily lives.

We do not worship relics, we do not adore them, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator. But we venerate the relics of the martyrs to adore Him better, whose martyrs they are.”

- Is relic veneration biblical?
Yes. There are several instances in the Bible where individuals are healed by touching an item. 

In 2 Kings 13:20-21, the corpse of a man is touched to the bones of the prophet Elisha, and the man comes back to life. In Matthew 9:20-22, the hemorrhaging woman is healed by touching the hem of Jesus’ cloak. People were healed and evil spirits were driven out when handkerchiefs from the apostle Paul were placed on these individuals, as is written in Acts of the Apostles 19:11-12. 

- What are the different classes of relics?
There are “significant” and “nonsignificant” relics.

A significant relic is the body of the blessed and of the saints or notable parts of the bodies themselves or the total of the ashes obtained by their cremation. 

Little fragments of the bodies of the blessed and of the saints, as well as objects that have come in direct contact with their persons, are considered nonsignificant relics. 

These are also preserved in sealed cases and honored with a religious spirit, avoiding every type of superstition and illicit trade.

- Can relics perform miracles?

Although many miracles were performed connected to relics, the Catholic Church does not believe that the relic itself causes the miracle; God alone does. The relic is the vehicle through which God may work, but God is the cause of the healing.

If God chooses to use the relics of saints to work healing and miracles, He wants to draw our attention to the saints as models and intercessors.

- Can I buy or sell relics?
The sale is strictly forbidden. Relics can only be given away by their owners.

- Are there relics of Jesus or Mary?
There are no first-class relics of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven.

Similarly for Jesus. There are fragments of the true cross, a fragment of the holy manger in which Jesus was placed after he was born, of the nails and crown of thorns (allegedly), and fragments of black-and-white stone that are said to be from the pillar on which He was scourged.

Oct 12 Sunday - Should I ask Our Lord to increase my faith?

 

Oct 12 Sunday 
Should I ask Our Lord to increase my faith?
Like the Apostles in today’s Gospel, we can also find ourselves lacking faith. We might lack faith when we face difficulties, when we lack the means to go on, when we do not find response in the apostolate, and when facing events that we do not know how to interpret from a supernatural point of view.
 
We need more faith. And faith increases with humility, good deeds, and petition. God knows our needs, and He is ready to give us more light, more grace.

If we live of faith, we shall not be afraid of anything or of anyone. With faith, we will be able to reach and understand things far superior to our natural strength. Nothing is impossible for a person who lives of faith.

Faith is the virtue that reveals to us the true dimension of events and allows us to judge correctly everything that happens around us.

Only with the light of faith and with the meditation on the divine word can we recognize God, always and everywhere. In Him we move and we exist.

We should seek His Will in all events, contemplate Christ in all persons. Only with faith can we judge correctly about the true meaning and value of the temporal realities, in themselves, as well as in relation to the end of man.

Let us imitate the apostles and ask the Lord to have compassion on us and increase our faith.

Everything is possible for one who believes. These are words of Christ. Why don’t you say with the apostles, Increase my faith!

If we live of faith, we will know how to confess it and give true testimony to the world, as the first Christians did.

Only the Lord brings us to the true reality: we are servants, not the Master. Therefore, the glory of our actions belongs only to God. The servant does not add anything of his own. 

Thus, we have to be attentive not to rearrange the reality of things, because the desire for their own excellence leads many to seek themselves in everything: in the exercise of their profession, in family life, and in the holiest activities.

Thus, we must examine our intentions carefully in everything we do and not seek our own interests if we want to serve the Lord.

Our human talents are not enough to work for Christ effectively. Our natural capacity is not in relation to the supernatural fruits we seek. Without grace, we will be useless, and with it, we can do everything.

The first thing we must ask is God’s grace and his help, so that our service may be effective. To ask this, we must be aware of being in need. If we are humble, if we walk in the truth, we will realize that we are useless servants and will feel compelled to ask the necessary grace from God for everything we try to accomplish in his service.

Oct 11 Sat - Does God ask too much from us?

 

Oct 11 Sat
Does God ask too much from us?
As part of his plan of salvation, God, through his mercy, grants his gifts to each person according to each one’s needs. All are called to be co-redeemers with Jesus. Christ says, ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and have appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide.’

God shows particular care and favor toward those who are faithful to this calling; God is attentive to everything that happens to them. Christ himself is the Good Shepherd, and says: ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.’

I should therefore have great confidence that God will not fail to carry out his part in the divine plan He decided for me before I was born, before the world was created.

But I should not forget that his loving care for me should be a new incentive for my loyal response. As Jesus also says: ‘Everyone to whom much is given, much will be required of him; and of him to whom much has been entrusted, more will be demanded.’

To be faithful instruments of God, we need to look after our interior life and fulfill the norms of piety with love.

Additionally, we must work conscientiously. Since we are co-redeemers, we are called to co-redeem with Christ through our work. Therefore, in the midst of our ordinary tasks, we can raise our hearts to God through Mary's intercession.

By God's special will, our ordinary daily work is the material for our sanctification. It is what we have to offer and sanctify, as well as sanctifying ourselves and other people. If we did not sanctify our work, we could not sanctify ourselves or bring the souls around us to God.

An outstanding feature of the first Christians was their dedication to their work. In this, they followed Jesus Christ's example. As one early writer puts it, He was himself considered a carpenter, and He made the things all carpenters make ... while He was among other men, thus teaching them the symbols of justice, and what a life of work is.

Thus, we will feel urged to offer God each of our tasks in union with Christ, to work intensely, with an upright intention, with a spirit of sacrifice, finishing each job down to the last detail, with the assurance that by our work we are collaborating in the redemption of all mankind.

Contemplate the scene on Golgotha. The fortitude of our sorrow-filled Mother gives rise in us to the firm resolution never to leave her alone, never to abandon Jesus. “Let us resolve to always stay at holy Mary's side, at the foot of the Cross. We want to console her, and to read from that book that is Christ crucified, to be filled with peace, joy, and desires of holiness."

Oct 10 Fri - Do I have a Guardian Angel?

 

Oct 10 Fri
Do I have a Guardian Angel?
During the month of October, the Catholic Church celebrates guardian angels.
Guardian angels are instruments of providence who help protect their charges from suffering serious harm and assist them on the path of salvation.

It is a teaching of the Church that every one of the faithful has his or her own guardian angel, and it is the general teaching of theologians that everyone has a guardian angel from birth.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their angels’ watchful care and intercession. ‘Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.’ Already here on earth, the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God” (No. 336).

Several of our greatest saints have also shared their thoughts on guardian angels. Here’s what they had to say:
St. John Vianney: “Our guardian angels are our most faithful friends, because they are with us day and night, always and everywhere. We ought often to invoke them.”

St. John Bosco: “When tempted, invoke your angel. He is more eager to help you than you are to be helped. Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him; he trembles and flees at the sight of your guardian angel.”

St. Jerome: “How great is the dignity of souls, that each person has from birth received an angel to protect it.”

St. Thérèse of Lisieux: “My holy Guardian Angel, cover me with your wings. With your fire, light the road that I’m taking. Come, direct my steps… help me, I call upon you. Just for today.”

St. Basil the Great: “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd, leading him to life.”

St. Bernard of Clairvaux: “We should show our affection for the angels, for one day they will be our co-heirs just as here below they are our guardians and trustees appointed and set over us by the Father.”

St. Francis de Sales: “Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them frequently in spirit. Without being seen, they are present with you.”

St. Josemaría Escrivá: “If you remembered the presence of your angel and the angels of your neighbors, you would avoid many of the foolish things which slip into your conversations.”

St. John Cassian: “Cherubim means knowledge in abundance. They provide an everlasting protection for that which appeases God, namely, the calm of your heart, and they will cast a shadow of protection against all the attacks of malign spirits.”
By Francesca Pollio Fenton

Oct 9 Thu - Why is the Gospel proclaimed in the Mass?

 

Oct 9 Thu
Why is the Gospel proclaimed in the Mass?
The reading of the Gospel is surrounded by special marks of respect. This rite emphasizes the union between the Incarnate Word, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, symbolized by the altar and sacramentally present after the Consecration, and the word of God written in the Gospel.

At first, the faithful express to God their cheerfulness by means of the Alleluia. 

The priest, who is about to speak in Christ’s name, prepares himself for that awesome task by begging God to purify his lips as He once did those of Isaiah when an angel touched the great prophet’s mouth with a burning coal.

We, too, reflect on God’s mercy in calling us—improbable people like us—to be Christians. To hear and to proclaim the Gospel: Every Christian preaches Christ every day by the life he lives, by the words he utters, daily. We are all the time unconsciously influencing other people. Can we say we are doing it worthily?

The priest (or deacon) takes the Book of the Gospel to the lectern. He who is going to read the Gospel may be preceded by servers who carry the censer and candles. 

The priest makes the Sign of the Cross with his thumb on the book and on his forehead, lips, and breast. If incense is used, he incenses the book before reading.

You probably have heard of all the care which, in the centuries before the advent of printing, the Church gave to the calligraphy of Gospel books, their pages being ornamented with illuminations and bindings at times encrusted with gold, ivory, and precious stones. The scent of incense used to fill the whole church, and candles were lit “as when”, wrote St Jerome, “the sun shines with all its brilliance; but their flame is not intended to dispel darkness, it is a sign of joy.”

We understand why the reading of the Gospel should be done with veneration. Ever since the Gospel was first read in Christian churches, the faithful have never listened to it in any other way than standing. In the Middle Ages, even those leaning on staves would leave them on the ground, standing erect as a servant stands before his lord. The bishop would hold his crozier in hand, and knights would draw their swords from their sheaths, removing also their cloaks and gloves. Men would remove their headgear, and princes their crowns.

Throughout the ages, all present made the sign of the cross together with the priest. 

The Gospel is the only book which is incensed, and on which the sign of the cross is made. It should be read and meditated on often. We should even memorize, not all its text perhaps, but at least the most notable passages.

We stand up when reading the Gospel, with the attitude of one who is prepared to suffer everything for the sake of those sacred words.

Prepared to die?...  If necessary, yes!
Prepared to die to ourselves, to our disorderly inclinations, to our own will?
Yes! 
And that is how you must be every day, every moment of every day.

Oct 8 Wed - Is it shameful to ask?

 

Oct 8 Wed
Is it shameful to ask?
In his catechesis at the Wednesday General Audience, Pope Leo XIV focused on Jesus’ final words on the Cross— “I thirst” and “It is finished.”

As Jesus hung on the Cross and humanity faced its most luminous yet darkest moment, those two sentences reveal his entire lifetime, making known the whole existence of the Son of God.

Jesus appears on the Cross as a “supplicant for love,” not as a victorious hero. He humbly asks for what He, alone, cannot give to Himself in any way, our love.

Jesus’ thirst on the Cross was not only the physiological need of a tortured body, but also an expression of a profound desire: that of love, of relationship, of communion.

It is the silent cry of a God who, having wished to share everything of our human condition, also lets Himself be overcome by this thirst for us.  Our God is not ashamed to beg for a sip, because in that gesture, He tells us that love, to be true, must also learn to ask and not only to give.

In expressing His thirst, Jesus shows that we cannot be self-sufficient or save ourselves, since His next words, “It is finished,” come only after He receives and accepts a sponge soaked with vinegar.

Love has made itself needy, and precisely for this reason, it has accomplished its work.

The Christian paradox is that God saves not by doing, but by letting Himself be done unto; not defeating evil with force, but by accepting the weakness of love to the very end.

Salvation is not found in autonomy, but in humbly recognizing one’s own need and in being able to express it freely.

Humanity finds fulfillment in trust, which opens us up to true hope, since even the Son of God could not be self-sufficient, thirsting as He did for love, meaning, and justice.

Jesus saves us by showing us that asking is not unworthy, but fulfilling. It is the way out of the darkness of sin to re-enter the space of communion.

Ever since the beginning, sin has produced shame. But forgiveness – real forgiveness – is born when we recognize our need and no longer fear rejection.

As He thirsted on the Cross, Jesus expresses the wounded cry of humanity for living water; when we utter this cry, it leads us to God and unites us to Him.

In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV invited Christians to find joy and true fulfillment in fraternity, in simple life, in the art of asking without shame, and offering what we can, without ulterior motives.

Let us not be afraid to ask, especially when it seems to us that we do not deserve. Let us not be ashamed to reach out our hand. It is right there, in that humble gesture, that salvation hides, for we recognize that we need Him. Thus, human fragility is a bridge towards heaven.

Oct 7 Tue - Do I have Psychological Insecurity?

 

Oct 7 Tue
Do I have Psychological Insecurity?

Psychological Insecurity is often an invisible obstacle that limits our success in family and business interactions, and may even offend God.

I believe that for those of us who belong to Generation X, with parents from the so-called Baby Boomer generation and children from Generations Y or Z, it presents an interesting challenge that we must face in all areas of interaction.

In that sense, I believe that the gray hair and some wrinkles that we usually already have should give us the wisdom to know ourselves well; otherwise, we will fall and make our loved ones (children and other family members) fall, as well as our teammates, into psychological insecurity.

Therefore, I’m going to share some defective behaviors that we’ve all probably had, starting with myself, and which I suggest we continue working on improving to grow in our endeavor to become better people, better Christians, and children of God:

- Hiding our weak points, whether as a parent, spouse, owner, manager, leader, or collaborator in a company.
- Never acknowledging that we do not know all the answers to the questions or concerns that may arise in any area of our lives.
- Not managing our non spoken language and gestures can make other people feel uncomfortable or disregarded. Even a harsh look can be more damaging than a word.
- Unconsciously “labeling” others, depriving them of the chance to contribute to an issue or challenging the status quo, and worse, making them feel like they don’t contribute value and thus inducing their silence.
- “Labeling” ourselves as first-class, or even being negative toward any idea or opinion contrary to our own.
- Not delegating tasks, whether at home or at work, with the mistaken argument that no one else will do them the way we do. That’s obvious: people are unique and unrepeatable in every sense of the word.
- Fear of losing prominence at work, and therefore not sharing information that will benefit the team as a whole.
- Not knowing how to listen and always believing that we are being attacked and judged, then interrupting and defending ourselves.

In this regard, I share with you some phrases that can help us reflect and face our fears:

- “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill – British statesman.
- “I fear no storm, for I am learning to sail my ship.” Louisa May Alcott.
- “Creativity requires courage.” Henri Matisse – French painter.

There’s no doubt about it, we’re all imperfect, yet we all have talents. For that reason, I invite you to begin working on self-knowledge, or if you’re already doing so, to continue to delve deeper into it and enjoy the process. Prayer, conversation with God, will help you to know yourself the way God sees you.

What do you say? Do you dare to swim against the current? And thus, contribute to better families, businesses, organizations, and society as a whole.

Excerpted from Hugo Saldaña Estrada

Oct 6 Mon - What can I do during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament?

 

Oct 6 Mon
What can I do during adoration of the Blessed Sacrament?

Why adoration? What is the difference between going to Mass and adoring the Blessed Sacrament?
The Church is a community, a family, and the Eucharist brings us together as a family. Adoration prepares our hearts to better experience the Mass. It would make no sense to go to Eucharistic adoration and not go to Mass.

Obstacles: “I don't feel anything. I get distracted a lot.”
The Lord awaits us in the Tabernacle. He is happy that you come and give him that little bit of time. And even if you are distracted, you are with Him. How often do we like it when our children or family come home, even if they are not doing anything special?

"I don't have time."
A visit can take from 15 seconds to even 15 minutes. When St. Josemaría was travelling and saw a church tower, he would greet Jesus from the vehicle.

“It’s boring.”
Try to maintain presence of God; be aware of who is there.
Try to make up for the offenses He receives in the Sacrament of the Altar.
Be a Eucharistic soul; treat Christ as the family of Bethany treated him. The Tabernacle should be the center of your thoughts and hopes.

Don’t be afraid to draw near to the Lord, especially when you realize you are a sinner.
Even after a fall, we must kiss Christ, look at him, and say: “Lord, from the mud of my sin, I know that You still love me." Then is when the change begins. 
We do not go to the Blessed Sacrament to show that we are perfect, but to recognize that God is very good. Jesus always waits for us, even in the midst of our failures.

Adoration enlivens love.
When a man meets his future spouse, he falls in love with her. Once he is married, he must keep the relationship alive instead of neglecting it. Similarly, we enliven our love during the Eucharistic visitation and adoration.
This love must be reflected in our daily conduct. Christ has remained in the Eucharist to strengthen us in our efforts to make divine the paths of the earth. To extend the kingdom of Christ, the recipe is only one: personal holiness. It is lived in love and fidelity to the Church and union with the Roman Pontiff. 

Can I read?  
You can read a passage of Scripture to meditate on, and listen to what God is telling you there.
Spiritual reading is also highly recommended.

Can I ask God?
You don’t go to inform God, but rather it is like opening a bag to put something inside, to receive the graces that God wants to give you, appropriate to your needs. God always answers our prayers, but He grants us what is best.

Can I be silent?
Once, the priest of Ars was in the parish when a farmer came in to pray at the church. The priest asked him what prayer he used. The farmer replied, "I don't know how to pray. So, I look at Him, He looks at me, and we understand each other." Try it.

Oct 5 Sun - Is each Christian a priest?

 

Oct 5 Sun
Is each Christian a priest?
The connection between the two parts of today’s gospel – increase our faith and serve Christ – is that, if we want a stronger faith, we should dedicate ourselves to doing God’s will.

To achieve this, God constituted the chosen people, the Church, as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” 
There are two ways of participating in the one priesthood of Christ:
- The common priesthood of the faithful, which is conferred through Baptism and Confirmation
- The ministerial priesthood of the ordained minister, which is at the service of the common priesthood of the faithful.

The faithful exercise their baptismal priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ’s mission as priest, prophet, and king. They do so by offering up their lives and work, by living and proclaiming the truth, and by carrying out all the requirements of justice. In everything, they try to conform to the will of God.

In other words, Christ gives us a share in his work. He makes our activity part of his activity.

Our common priesthood is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace—a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the Spirit; the ministerial priesthood serves the common priesthood by directing that unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians.

Christ gives us the means by which we share in his priesthood: grace.

Thus, we are priests, prophets, and kings! See the great importance God gives us.

For the laity, all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit—indeed even the hardships of life if patiently borne—all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist, these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord.

The sacrifice we offer to God is our lives. At the Offertory of the Mass, we can say to Our Lord, “I offer you this week.” And you can add who you would like to offer it for.

The laity live the prophetic role of Christ by evangelization, both by the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life.

Our good example of doing the right thing (“carrying out all the requirements of justice”) is a powerful proclamation in itself. The other proclamation is the apostolate, to bring those around us close to God.

If our lives are good, our actions testify to Christ's authenticity. And faithfulness to Christ is the reason we try to make our lives good.

The laity live the royal role of Christ through self-mastery and helping to conform society to the demands of the Gospel through justice.

In our kingship, our first subject must be ourselves. Then, as good kings and queens, we fulfill all our responsibilities. We live out justice and charity toward all.

Oct 4 Sat - Why is it important to live with purity of heart?

 

Oct 4 Sat
Why is it important to live with purity of heart?
According to Saint John Paul II, the purity of the heart is not merely the repression of desires, but a renewed gaze through grace that discovers in the body the reflection of God’s gift. This is also the foundation of consecrated virginity and celibacy for the Kingdom.

This has a Biblical foundation.

Jesus proclaims in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Mt 5:8). Purity, then, is not limited to a moral aspect, but is a condition of spiritual vision: a clean heart allows us to recognize God in ourselves, in others, and in the world.

Saint Paul adds: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, to discern the will of God” (Rom 12:2). Purity is an interior renewal that allows us to look at things with the eyes of Christ.

Saint John Paul II emphasized that purity is not simply the control of impulses, but the positive capacity to love. A pure heart sees in the body of another, not an object of use, but a person to whom God has entrusted a gift and a mission.

Purity is, therefore, a path of authentic love that frees us from the utilitarian temptation and from any reduction of the person to an object of pleasure.

The heart purified by the grace of the Holy Spirit allows a new perception of the body:

- One’s own body is no longer lived with shame or distrust, but as a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19).

- The body of the other is recognized as a subject of love, not as an object of use or consumption.

- Sexuality is integrated into love, according to God’s creative design.

Saint John Paul II explains that this purity “matures to the extent that man learns to see the other with his heart, discovering the spousal meaning of the body.”

True purity consists in learning to see people as Christ sees them. He contemplates man and woman with creative and redemptive love, without possession or selfishness.

A pure heart is capable of reproducing that gaze, which heals, dignifies, and liberates. Therefore, purity is a relational virtue, expressed in the way we love, speak, and relate.

Thus, 
- Christian purity is not repression, but the fullness of true love.

- It educates sensitivity and effectiveness, integrating desires into charity.

- It allows us to see God not only in prayer, but in everyday life and in every human encounter.

- It makes authentic communion between people possible, overcoming possessive selfishness.

The purity in heart is not merely a blessed moral requirement, but moreover a promise of deep vision: to see God in the world, in others, and in one’s own body.

Purity is the key to rediscovering the spousal meaning of the body and living the true freedom of love. Thus, the purified heart learns to see as Christ sees and anticipates, already on earth, eternal blessedness: seeing God face to face (cf. 1 Cor 13:12).

Oct 3 Fri - Is it right to cry?

 

 Oct 3 Fri
Is it right to cry?
Pope Leo XIV explained that Jesus’ cry from the cross reveals the final stage of a love that is given up to the very end, and he encouraged us to view crying not as a weakness, but rather as an act of intense prayer.
Jesus shows us that crying out is not a weakness but an act of hope.

Jesus did not die in silence. He did not fade away gradually, like a light that burns out, but rather He left life with a cry.

That cry was more than the body surrendering, but the final sign of a life being offered. Before this, Jesus said: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Thus, the Son, who had always been in communion with the Father, experienced silence, absence, and solitude in the difficult moments of His Passion. Yet, it was not a crisis of faith, but the final stage of a love that gives itself to the very end.

Jesus cried out on the cross, not in desperation, but with sincerity; it was the truth taken to the limit, and trust that endures even when all is silent.

Then, the sky darkened and the veil in the temple was torn in two—as if all of creation was participating in Jesus’ pain. But this moment of darkness also revealed something new: God no longer dwells behind a veil—His face can be seen now in the Crucified One.

That image of Jesus’ broken body on the cross manifests the greatest love. We see that God is not distant from us, but giving all He had left, He joins us in our pain, in our life journey to the very end.

At the foot of the cross, one man understood this. The centurion—a pagan—came to believe after witnessing how Jesus died. His first statement of faith after Jesus' death was not a momentary profession, but one that truly touched and changed his heart.

At times, what we are unable to say in words, we express with voice. When the heart is bursting, it cries. This does not signify weakness, but rather is a deep act of humanity.

Our cries become a prayer when words do not suffice.

Crying out does not mean giving up or resigning to one’s fate. A person cries out because they believe someone can still hear them.
Jesus did not cry out against the Father, but to Him.

In that act of faith, Jesus shows us that we, too, can cry out with trust and hope, even when things seem lost.

Crying out is a human gesture, the first gesture we make when we are born, and it is a means of staying alive.

A cry born of love, addressed to God, will not be ignored. Crying means rejecting cynicism and carrying on the belief that a different world is possible.

A cry can be the threshold of a new light, of a new birth for us.

Oct 2 Thu - Why do we sing the Alleluia in the Mass?

 

Oct 2 Thu
Why do we sing the Alleluia in the Mass?

After the second reading (if there is any), the acclamation before the Gospel or Alleluia follows. Unlike the responsorial psalm, it is not related to the preceding reading but to the Gospel, which follows. It serves as the assembled faithful’s greeting of welcome to the Lord who is about to speak to them and as an expression of their faith through song. The whole congregation stands up to sing or recite it. 

The word “Alleluia” is an ancient Jewish expression of joy; it means “Praise the Lord.” It was incorporated into the liturgy of the Church at a very early date and passed from religion into everyday life. Sailors, when they recognized another ship, used to greet each other with a shout of Alleluia. In the year 429, when the Christian Bretons fought the Saxons, they used Alleluia as their war cry. St Jerome heard the farm laborers of Bethlehem sing it while ploughing. 

The Alleluia was at first sung at Rome only once a year—on Easter Sunday. There was a proverb current in Rome in the fifth century: “God grant that I may hear the Alleluia!” This wish is similar to that which we make on New Year’s Eve, that we shall again be gathered and reunited as a family at the beginning of the next year. After Easter Sunday, the Alleluia was heard during the fifty days of the Easter season.

Nowadays, the Alleluia is sung in every liturgical season outside Lent. It is usually begun by the cantor or choir, and then it may be repeated by all. It ends with a renewed Alleluia acclamation from the congregation. 

The Alleluia is the song of people set free by God, our loving Father, people redeemed by the blood of Christ. This triumphal acclamation is linked to the cheerfulness of Easter.

“Cheerfulness is a necessary consequence of our divine filiation, of knowing that our Father God loves us with a love of predilection, that He holds us up and helps us and forgives us. 
“Remember this and never forget it: even if it should seem at times that everything around you is collapsing, in fact, nothing is collapsing at all, because God does not lose battles.”  

During Lent, instead of Alleluia, an acclamation is made before and after the verse before the Gospel. One of these is:

• Praise and honor to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

In the early liturgy, the singing of the Alleluia was extended with a long vocalization executed on the final vowel, resembling the joyful modulations of country people who, without using words, hum a tune on one isolated syllable. This was called the jubilus. In the West, words were soon placed instead of this vocalization. The texts that followed the official verses were called “Sequences.” Only four of these most beautiful Sequences remain: For Easter, an exultant dialogue between the cantor and the congregation, for Pentecost, for the feast of the Body and Blood of our Lord, and for the celebration of our Lady of Sorrows.