Feb 22 Sun - Is personal conversion the main requirement of this Lent?

 

Feb 22 Sun
Is personal conversion the main requirement of this Lent?

"You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve."
These words, addressed by our Lord Jesus Christ to Satan, are the program of life for man, called to the service of God and God alone. Yet, throughout his life, man is exposed and susceptible to all "temptations," driven by the devil, who does everything possible to dominate and manipulate man by trying to set him against God.

Faced with Satan, who promises man even "all the kingdoms of the world" in exchange for worship, Jesus responds with the light and strength of the Word of God, who had warned the chosen people against the temptation of idolatry.

Lent is a time for inner conversion. Sacred Scripture presents human life in its relationship with God as a continuous inner conversion. God, in His infinite love, calls man to live in communion with Him. But man is fragile, weak, sinful; therefore, to enter into communion with God, he must reverse the path that leads him to evil; he must even change ways of thinking that are opposed to the will and word of God.

And Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, calls men to conversion: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Lent represents in the life of the Church a cry for conversion: "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Lent is a continuous, urgent call to the urgency of authentic interior conversion.

Conversion is fundamentally a turning away from sin and a going toward the living God. This is the invitation of the prophet Hosea, who insists on the interior character of authentic conversion, always stirred and inspired by love and knowledge of God.

Conversion is a gift from God, which man must ask for with fervent prayer and which Christ has earned for us. This is what today's liturgy has led us to meditate on in the passage from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans: through the disobedience of the first Adam, sin and death entered the world and dominate man. But if it is true that "through the offense of the one man (that is, Adam), death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."

Christians, strengthened by the power that comes from Christ, increasingly distance themselves from sin, from specific sins, mortal or venial. Moreover, by overcoming evil inclinations, vices, and habitual sin, they will increasingly weaken the inclination to sin. This occurs to the extent that grace, God's gift, granted by the merits "of one man, Jesus Christ," abounds in us more and more.

In this way, conversion is a gradual, effective, continuous struggle to pass from the "old" Adam to the "new" one, who is Christ. This exhilarating spiritual process, during the period of Lent, must become particularly conscious and incisive in every Christian.

Feb 21 Sat - Is being humble the opposite of being natural?

 

Feb 21 Sat
Is being humble the opposite of being natural?

“When we try to be humble, we feel God's power acting in us, based on our weakness; and we come to understand that we are never stronger than when we have only God to rely on. We also learn that age and experience alone are not a guarantee that we will get things right; otherwise, all elderly people would be geniuses. It is God who makes us more prudent than our teachers and wiser than the aged."

"Humble people realize that their lives are in the hands of God. And when they turn to God in prayer, they do so without pride, without putting on false airs, since they know that their mistakes and sins are not hidden from God's sight."

"Humility prevents us from becoming discouraged by our own faults. Our Father God knows what kind of clay we are made of. Our human weaknesses give our Father God a chance to shine forth and to show His almighty power by excusing and forgiving."
Humility makes us see things as they are and face ourselves in God's presence.
Humility doesn't stop us from aspiring to greatness, but it reminds us that we are merely instruments.

To be humble means being natural; it means being simple and straightforward in our dealings with God and with others. Since we live in the midst of the world, our humility must never be confused with timidity or a lack of self-confidence.

"It may be that an asceticism proper to religious orders could involve some rather eye-catching expressions of humility. But in the Work, the exact opposite is the case. As our sanctity hinges on our work, we need to build up professional expertise and respect, and each of us will acquire, in our own job and social sphere, the dignity and good name we deserve, gained through honest competition with our professional colleagues. Our humility doesn't entail being timid and shy, or lacking in daring in the field of noble human endeavor. With a desire to serve, we must strive to be among the best." (St. Josemaría)

"Some people without a genuine lay outlook on life understand humility as a lack of confidence, a kind of indecisiveness that stops them from taking action. They think it involves waiving their rights (sometimes even the rights of truth and justice) to avoid friction and disagreements, so that they can be nice to everyone. There will always be some who don't understand our way of practicing a deep—and genuine—humility; they may even call it pride. The Christian concept of this virtue has been severely deformed, possibly because the various forms of humility that people have attempted to transfer onto secular society are really more suited to convents than to Christians whose vocation requires them to be at the crossroads of the world."

Let us ask Mary to remove every trace of pride from our hearts so that every day we may become more closely identified with her Son.

Feb 20 Fri - What is inculturation?

 

Feb 20 Fri
What is inculturation?

The term Catholic means universal. Have you ever wondered how the Catholic Church, the body of Christ, connects with different cultures around the world? The answer lies in a fascinating process called inculturation. Inculturation is the process by which the Catholic Church integrates her teachings and practices into various cultural contexts. This approach allows the Church to remain universal while respecting and incorporating the unique traditions of different cultures.

So, what exactly does inculturation involve? It is about adapting Christian practices to fit within different cultural settings. This adaptation happens without changing the core teachings of the Church. The goal is to present the gospel message in a way that is understandable to diverse cultures and from various backgrounds.

Historically, inculturation has been part of the Christian journey since the early days of the Church. For instance, when Christianity spread to Europe, it absorbed elements from local cultures. Existing festivals and customs were often used to celebrate Christian holidays.

This practice continued as Christianity reached other regions, including Africa and the Americas. In practical terms, inculturation allows local customs and traditions to be woven into Christian worship. This not only enriches the worship experience but also makes it more relatable for local congregations.

Missionaries have also utilized inculturation to introduce Christianity to new areas. One of their first tasks was learning the local language. By learning the local language and culture, they could communicate the gospel more effectively.

It is important to distinguish inculturation from syncretism. Syncretism involves blending different religious beliefs in a way that can compromise the original faith.

In contrast, inculturation aims to preserve the core teachings of Christianity while emphasizing cultural elements that align with these teachings.

Pope Leo points out: 
The inculturation of faith is not a question of adapting the Gospel to the world, but of finding in each culture the appropriate ways to proclaim the Word that does not fade away, enriching and serving human existence.

Faced with the evils that undermine society, such as tribalism, interethnic conflicts, wars, and family divisions, the Gospel calls for reconciliation and the pacification of hearts. As Saint Pope John Paul II underlined, ‘The new evangelization will thus aim at building up the Church as family, avoiding all ethnocentrism and excessive particularism, trying instead to encourage reconciliation and true communion between different ethnic groups, favoring solidarity and the sharing of personnel and resources among the particular Churches, without undue ethnic considerations.”

The family of God requires pastors to be close to the people entrusted to them in a spirit of listening, compassion, and benevolence.

In the study of the Church, known as Ecclesiology, inculturation plays a vital role. It shows how the Church interacts with different cultures, highlighting her ability to be both universal and local. This approach reflects the Church's mission to be a global community that includes people from all nations and backgrounds. Through inculturation, the Catholic Church continues to grow and adapt while remaining true to its foundational beliefs.

Feb 19 Thu - Why does the priest raise the Host and the chalice?

 

Feb 19 Thu
Why does the priest raise the Host and the chalice?
After the consecration, the priest elevates –separately– the Host and the chalice containing the Blood of our Lord, inviting us to reflect on the transubstantiation that has been caused.

The priest shows the consecrated host to the people, and then genuflects in adoration. Likewise, he shows the chalice to the people and genuflects in adoration.  

If incense is used, a server incenses the host and the chalice during the elevations. 

This ceremony was instituted to counteract the errors of Berengarius of Tours (eleventh century), who denied Christ’s presence in the Eucharist.

This is the same Body that was hanging on the cross, the same Blood that was poured there: We should repeat these truths once and again until we truly believe them and begin to love. Before the Eucharistic mystery, it is necessary for us, more than ever, to be humble. 

Three things are intended by the elevation of the sacred host:

- To expose Jesus Christ, now present on the altar, to the adoration of the faithful.

- To represent the elevation of Jesus Christ’s body on the cross. He said, “And I, when I am lifted from the earth, will draw all things to myself.”

This is the mystery of Christ that we commemorate: his incarnation, his life of work in Nazareth, his preaching and miracles, his death and resurrection. Through this great mystery, Christ is the center of the universe, the firstborn and Lord of all creation. “St. Paul gave a motto to the Christians at Ephesus: To fill everything with the spirit of Jesus, placing Christ at the center of everything.” This should also be the program of our life.

- To offer to God in silence this only one Victim of our salvation, as the priests of the Old Testament offered God their lambs as victims by elevating them. 

During the elevation, we should glance at the Eucharistic species in adoration. But we should also remember that we have come to Mass not only to worship Jesus Christ present in the sacrament of the altar. That could be done equally well in the Exposition of and Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. We come to Mass first of all to offer Jesus Christ on the cross with the priest and the entire Church, and to offer ourselves to God with Jesus Christ and as part of his Mystical Body: We come mainly to share in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
As part of the Church, we are united to Christ in the act wherein He offers himself in sacrifice to his Father.

The acclamation of the faithful follows the consecratory formula. We have four responses commonly used in English.

When we recite any of these acclamations, we in effect declare and give witness to the encounter of the risen Christ and Mary Magdalene on Easter Sunday.

We will find the meaning of our life by sharing the Victim’s offering and by proclaiming the message of the cross and resurrection among our peers, announcing it through what we say and do.

Feb 18 Wed - Me? … A saint?

 

Feb 18 Wed
Me? … A saint?

Lent begins today, and God's call us to penance. The Church is offering us an opportunity for a new conversion, to be saints. To be a saint in this world is to develop to the full one's human potential.

The Lord continues to do "mad" things to this day. If we happen to meet some day in the middle of this busy world ask me about the latest mad actions of this God who loves us. Then I will tell you everything He did, and you will love Him with me.

The mad things He did for you may inspire you to seek and find a true and worthy outlet for your loyal rebellion, for your anxious restlessness, for your legitimate unhappiness, for that holy dissatisfaction that you share with other sons of God.

Those who fled from God have now degenerated into a cold and bitter paganism. There are very few heretics left in the modern world. Those who abandon the one true God very soon become slaves of the most barren dryness of soul. They are simply pagans: and today they can be seen all around us straining their sightless eyes, vainly seeking that happiness for which their instincts cry out, groping about in the dark, blindly trying to find the way, the truth, and the life.

We try to help them. We have told them a thousand times to look to our Christ. They have tried to look, but they see nothing. We have shouted at them that Christ is alive, really alive, the same Man that He always was, and always will be, but the force of our arguments was quenched by their cold indifference.

And yet it is easy enough to understand this dryness and bitterness in the souls of these poor pagans when we read the cynical challenge in their eyes: "Show us by your lives that Christ is alive."

Their argument is all too just. We cannot expect them to be won over by treatises on theology, some of them so dry and formal. Their argument is fair enough: "Show us by your lives that Christ is alive."

We look around us, among our fellow Christians of today, for lives to which we could point as examples and models for those men who have lost faith, and we are torn with grief when we cannot find them. It is a cause for bitter regret to see the insipid and crumbling spectacle we present to the world after twenty centuries of so-called progress.

Our world is full of living Christians, but yet it is the lifeless who are in command. We have churches in plenty, but so few good lives. All we lack is lives, lives to inspire these dead people, to convince them, to strengthen the wills of poor weak mortals, to enlighten the minds of the diseased, to soften the selfish hearts of greedy materialists — passionate lives, generous lives, lives ablaze with love. So, few good lives!

We must live this time of penance making specific resolutions to improve. 
Don’t you think that you and I are called to become the saints the world needs?

Feb 17 Tue - How can I achieve consistency in life, living without a mask?

 

Feb 17 Tue
How can I achieve consistency in life, living without a mask?

Consistency in life denotes a harmonious integration of strong faith with daily actions, thoughts, and feelings. This is not merely an abstract ideal but a divine grace that transforms the believer into a living witness of Jesus Christ. To be Christian means to think, feel, and act accordingly, recognizing the Lord's presence in every aspect of life.

This inner unity avoids the scandal of inconsistency—which can distance others from the faith—and fosters a fulfilling life, oriented toward love and service.

Consistency prevents hypocrisy and addresses key questions: Do I truly believe what I proclaim? Do I live what I believe? Do I speak about what I live? This unity between faith and action inspires a credible witness, trusting in the Holy Spirit to renew the Church and engage in dialogue with the world. Holiness is not reserved for a select few but is a path open to all.

Saint Thomas More shines as a powerful example of consistency in life. Imprisoned in the Tower of London for over a year, he endured hardships with serenity and good humor, writing letters filled with faith and familial love. He rejected offers of wealth and power to save his life, declaring, "I am not a man who changes his mind out of fear." He was beheaded on Tower Hill, accepting death with joy. John Paul II proclaimed him "an exemplary model of that unity of life" which expresses holiness in everyday situations and the public sphere.

Thomas More integrated his faith into politics without separating it from morality; he defended the primacy of a well-formed conscience over any human power, living in complete unity between belief, thought, and action. His martyrdom was the culmination of a consistently lived life.

Practical suggestions for living a more coherent life:

- Daily examination of conscience: Dedicate a few minutes at the end of the day to review whether your actions reflect your faith, humbly seeking guidance to correct inconsistencies.

- God's presence in the ordinary: Offer daily work, conversations, and small tasks as acts of love to God, turning routine into continuous prayer.

- Ongoing formation: Regularly read the Gospel and engage in spiritual reading to deepen your understanding of doctrine, informing concrete decisions in family, professional, and social life.

- Self-control and contemplation: Practice small sacrifices (such as controlling your tongue, responsibly using social media, or keeping your environment tidy) to build inner order and avoid divisions in your personality.

- Witness in the public sphere: Act with Christian consistency in the workplace, political, or digital arenas, being a light without imposing, attracting others through the joy and authenticity of a unified life.

- Community and spiritual direction: Seek guidance from a confessor or director who can help identify weaknesses and foster growth in this unity.

Living without masks is not a burden but a liberation: it makes us freer, holier, and happier, reflecting the beauty of Christ in the world. By uniting wisdom and holiness in a single, consistent life, each of us can aspire to be a luminous and transformative witness.
Excerpts from Patricia Jiménez Ramírez, in Exaudi

Feb 16 Mon - How can I overcome hardships in my family?

 

Feb 16 Mon
How can I overcome hardships in my family?

Family life has its challenges. From daily tensions to difficult trials like failing an exam, experiencing heartbreak, or losing a job, these moments can leave us feeling vulnerable. However, the Catholic faith teaches that no adversity is without purpose: each can be an opportunity to grow in love, unity, and trust in God.

Constant distractions, rushing, and cellphones that steal our attention can erode the harmony of the home. The key is to reclaim our presence: looking each other in the eye, truly listening, and turning off notifications when we're together. Learning to be "bored" as a family allows us to enjoy simple things and discover the beauty already present.

A sincere hug, a word of encouragement, a heartfelt "thank you"—these are powerful medicines for the soul. When we cultivate daily gratitude for small blessings (like breakfast together, shared laughter, or a day without major problems), the family becomes a haven of peace, even amidst the daily grind.

A failing grade, an unplanned course, or a learning difficulty can crush a child's self-esteem and worry the entire family. But failure isn't the end; it's an invitation to humility and renewed effort.

From a Catholic perspective, education is an act of love and service, patiently supporting our children without judgment or comparison, reminding them that their worth is not defined by grades, but by being beloved children of God.

Instilling the certainty that God accompanies them in every stumble and that persevering through effort and prayer is already a victory transforms failure into a lesson in maturity and strength.

A broken relationship, a marital crisis, or the pain of separation leaves deep wounds affecting the entire family. True love, however, doesn't disappear; it is purified.

In moments of emotional "dark night," when feelings wane, we can choose to love selflessly, honoring our commitment before God. In marriage, letting go of selfishness and individualism to build a strong "we" brings genuine joy, even when feelings fluctuate.

Forgiving, asking for forgiveness, and renewing affection in everyday life (a gesture, a prayer together, shared silence) heals wounds and shows children that true love endures and grows stronger in times of trial. The family thus becomes a place of healing and a living witness to Christ's love.

Losing a job creates fear, but it's also an opportunity for true family leadership: to protect, encourage, find solutions together, and maintain hope.
Focus on what is essential: a person's dignity does not depend on an employment contract, but on being a child of God. While searching for work, the family can grow in solidarity, with creativity to reduce expenses, trusting prayer, and small projects that bring everyone together.

Have confidence that God never abandons His own and often prepares greater graces through difficult times.

Overcoming adversity as a family isn't about avoiding suffering, but about facing it hand in hand with God and our loved ones.

When we unite in family prayer, in the Eucharist, in mutual service, and in daily dedication, we discover that difficulties do not destroy us; they shape us more into Christ and make us a stronger, brighter, holier family.
Excerpts from Exaudi

Feb 15 Sun - Does the Sacred Scripture have a human dimension? Does it have a divine origin?

 

Feb 15 Sun
Does the Sacred Scripture have a human dimension? Does it have a divine origin?

Today, we read Jesus stating, “Until heaven and earth pass away, not a single letter, … will disappear from the Law until all things have been accomplished."

The divine origin of the Bible is a truth of faith. This belief must be a starting point. When we read the Bible, we must remember that God is its author. Thus, we must search out what God wanted to manifest to us.

Even though the human writer (called the hagiographer) is involved in writing the sacred books, God is the primary author, the three divine Persons in one, but it is attributed to the Holy Spirit.

Oftentimes, the Fathers of the Church compared the action of God in inspiring Sacred Scripture to that of a writer using a pen, the human writer being analogous to the pen. The hagiographer was the instrument God used to write the Bible.

In every action caused with the use of an instrument, we can observe that there is a principal cause (or agent) and the instrumental cause (or instrument). The agent raises the instrument above its nature when the agent applies it to the action.

In the writing of the holy books, God is the principal cause, and the hagiographer is God’s instrument: He makes him capable of writing something beyond natural human capabilities.

Furthermore, any instrument has two actions: a proper action, according to its nature (to make strokes is proper of a pen); and an instrumental action, influenced by the main agent (to write a poem). In this way, the writer’s activity is at the service of God, without losing his particular traits.

The Sacred Scripture is “the Word of God in human words.”

Pope Leo told us recently:
“Sacred Scripture, read in the living Tradition of the Church, is a privileged space for encounter where God continues to speak to the men and women of every time, so that, by listening, they can know him and love him. In some cases, making oneself understood to others is the first act of love. This is why God chooses to speak using human languages and thus, various authors, inspired by the Holy Spirit, have written the texts of Sacred Scripture.” 

“Therefore, not only in its content, but also in its language, the Scripture reveals God’s merciful condescension towards men, and his desire to be close to them.”

We must be aware of two deficient approaches to Scripture.
“A correct interpretation of the sacred texts cannot dispense with the historic environment in which they developed and the literary forms that were used; on the contrary, to renounce the study of the human words that God used risks leading to fundamentalist or spiritualist readings of the Scripture, which betray its meaning.”

“Equally reductive, on the other hand, is a reading of Scripture that neglects its divine origin and ends up understanding it as a mere human teaching, as something to be studied simply from a technical point of view or as a text ‘only of the past.’”

God gives us the essential nourishment of his Word; our lives must not obscure the love of God that is narrated in Scripture.

Feb 14 Sat - How was Our Lady's work as a housewife in Nazareth?

 

Feb 14 Sat
How was Our Lady's work as a housewife in Nazareth?

Look at this painting of Our Lady; the distinctive mark is that she is wearing an apron; I call this painting Our Lady of the Apron. She looks like an ordinary, modest housewife.

Our Mother is looking towards heaven seeking directions in her life, for her decisions, instead of choosing just what is “popular,” “cool,” or “more comfy.”

In seeking God’s Will, she is internally talking to God, praying. Our work should be prayer, contemplation; we must do it in the presence of God.

She is ready to serve because our Christian vocation leads us to serve, following Christ, who did not come to be served but to serve. But not any kind of service, not any kind of work, rather, she's ready to work well as an act of love of God.

She has her hair gathered to be more effective in her work, so nothing will fall from her hair.
“Professional work -and working in the home is also a first-class profession- is a witness to the worth of the human creature; a chance to develop one’s own personality; a bond of union with others; a fund of resources; a way of helping in the improvement of the society we live in, and of promoting the progress of the whole human race…"
- For a Christian, these grand views become even deeper and wider. Because work, which Christ took up as something both redeemed and redeeming, becomes a means, a way of holiness, a specific task which sanctifies and can be sanctified.”

She's carrying the Child Jesus. When we work, in a manner of speaking, we are carrying the Child Jesus with us, because we are doing his work. 

The Child is looking towards heaven, because He, and the Father, with the Holy Spirit, are not separated, but one God. He is always doing the Will of his Father, who sent him. 

He is wrapped in a tallit (טַלִּית), the prayer shawl typical of the Jews, indicating that He belongs to the people of Israel. He is declaring the continuity of the covenant, and that He is the fullness of the New Covenant.

The painting is framed with a thin golden frame; our work, no matter how humble, becomes pure gold in the eyes of God. Thus, we collaborate in God’s work of redemption.

The painting is resting upon a red carpet. Our Lady is hinting to us that we must be like carpets, soft carpets, on which the others may be able to step comfortably.

It means that this service to others should be directed to make their life, and their way to heaven, easier, more pleasant, as an expression of fraternity, because we are all involved in the same journey, as a family, towards heaven.

Feb 13 Fri - What should I choose, what is ‘practical’ or the truth?

 

Feb 13 Fri
What should I choose, what is ‘practical’ or the truth?

Here are 10 principles from Benedict XVI that can help us to navigate our way through any crisis of faith.

1. Truth must precede our practices. 
Truth cannot be established only based on what is ‘practical’, praxis. Sometimes, what looks ‘practical’ is not morally correct. 

2. Truth is not the “middle term” between authority and subjectivity.
It is not enough to mean well and follow our conscience; our conscience can err, and if it does so, we have failed to perceive the truth. 
Truth is above consensus. Mere consensus is no guarantor of the truth.

3. Trust in Scripture.
We must not dismiss the Scriptures on the ground that no one followed Christ around with a tape recorder. On the contrary, we have to trust that the Holy Spirit was active in the composition of the Scriptures.

4. The Eucharist Is Not a Sinner’s Banquet.
We encounter Christ especially through the sacrament of the Eucharist, the very body and blood of Christ. The Eucharist is not a “fellowship meal” or a celebration of the achievements of the local community. 
The Eucharist has a particular relationship to the sacrament of matrimony. Conjugal love is a sacramental sign of Christ’s love for his Church, a love culminating in the Cross.

5. Church Teaching Develops Organically.
The Church cannot develop her teaching by majority opinion. Truth is not discerned by taking opinion polls and searching for a consensus. 
Christian tradition cannot hold as truth today what was heresy yesterday. Also, there must also be an internal coherence among the teachings in different areas of theology.

6. Relationship between Faith and Reason.
Faith and reason need to purify each other. The Catholic tradition represents a synthesis or integration of the two.

7. We must believe in a Creator God.
Since human beings are indeed created by God, they are creatures, not commodities. Moreover, the dignity of the creature is not found in their capacity to choose their own gender but in their having been made in God’s image. The belief in creation is also important for the understanding of our stewardship of creation.

8. Understanding of Synodal authority.
Speaking of the idea of a synodal structure of mixed lay and episcopal membership, Ratzinger declared:
“The idea of the mixed synod as a permanent supreme governing body of the national churches is a chimerical idea in terms of the Tradition of the Church as well as her sacramental structure and her specific goal. Such a synod would lack any legitimacy, and therefore obedience to it has to be decisively and unequivocally denied.”

9. Understanding of Holy Orders
Pope Benedict always defended the practice of a celibate priesthood and the notion of a priest as someone more than a community leader.

10. Understanding of the Petrine Office
The Pope is not the instrument through which one could, so to speak, bring a different Church into existence, but is a protective barrier against arbitrary action.
As such, a pope is not an absolute monarch, but rather like a constitutional monarch whose powers are restrained by a constitution.

Feb 12 Thu - Are the Institution Narrative and Consecration the central points of the Eucharistic Prayer?

 

Feb 12 Thu
Are the Institution Narrative and Consecration the central points of the Eucharistic Prayer?

What mankind has been waiting for through centuries is now going to take place among us. God has arranged everything to happen at its own time and in the most fitting manner. At this moment, we are invited to a greater recollection and devotion. To remind us about this, a little before the Consecration, the server may ring a bell as a signal to the faithful. Depending on local custom, he also rings the bell at the elevation of both the host and the chalice. 

The Consecration is the essential part of the Mass. Only the priest pronounces the words of the Consecration.
The human minister has received, with his ordination, the power to pronounce the great and wonderful prayers of the Consecration, and these will be effective. In truth, he is but the instrument of Christ. “The priest offers the Holy Sacrifice ‘in persona Christi’; this means more than offering ‘in the name of’ or ‘in the place of’ Christ. In persona means in specific sacramental identification with ‘the Eternal High Priest’ who is the author and principal subject of this sacrifice of his, a sacrifice in which, in truth, nobody can take his place.”
 
The priest does not act on his own account. “The priest’s identity consists in being a direct and daily instrument of the saving grace which Christ has won for us.” That is why, “if you ever come across a priest who, apparently, does not seem to live in keeping with the Gospel, do not judge him; let God judge him. Bear also in mind that if he celebrates Mass validly, with the intention of consecrating, our Lord would still come down into his hands, however unworthy they are.”
 
The priest’s own personality is blotted out to clothe himself with the person of the everlasting Priest. It is Jesus Christ himself who, at every Mass, performs the Consecration, while the priest lends him his voice. The priest repeats the words pronounced by Christ, not as he would describe the history of some beautiful event that happened in the past, but as bearing the same effective power Christ attached to them.

After the Consecration, what were bread and wine are no longer bread and wine, although our senses continue to perceive them as such, with all their sensible attributes. But it is now Christ himself–with his body, blood, soul, and divinity–who is there, under the appearances of bread and wine, offering himself to the Father for the redemption of all.

The full work of our redemption is truly and effectively carried out in the Mass, not only in a symbolic manner. “To accomplish so great a work [the work of redemption], Christ is always present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations; He is present in the sacrifice of the Mass, not only in the person of his minister, ‘the same one now offering, through the ministry of the priests, who formerly offered himself on the cross,’ but especially under the Eucharistic species.”

Feb 11 Wed - What is Relativism?

 

Feb 11 Wed
What is Relativism?
Relativism is the rejection of objective moral truths, leading to significant consequences for ethical understanding and practice.

Pope Francis highlighted that Relativism, under the guise of tolerance, ultimately allows those in power to define moral values according to their interests, which can result in laws being perceived as arbitrary impositions rather than reflections of objective truth.

The Church emphasizes the existence of objective moral norms that are valid for everyone, countering the notion that morality is merely a subjective result of individual conscience or cultural evolution.

Furthermore, the Church teaches that true freedom is found in submission to truth; a culture that loses sight of this relationship between truth, good, and freedom risks moral disorientation.

Thus, the Church's teachings present a clear opposition to relativism, advocating for recognizing objective moral truths as foundational for genuine human freedom and ethical behavior.

Already, at the beginning of the last century, some proposed that the Church’s doctrinal expression of sacred revelation was stifling and should yield to the fresh formulations of each age.

For some, nowadays, the call to sanctity is displaced by the ‘call to action’. Incidentally, this was the name of an experiment of the late 1970s, that eventually was cast into the landfill of failed experiments.

Christian piety and devotion are replaced by political fervor, and humble submission to the will of God collapses before a careful attention to the Self.

Thus, Relativism reigns supreme. They cast the Church’s doctrinal and spiritual Tradition aside as outdated and harmful. Just as the Jacobins erased history with the adoption of a new calendar, some desire to re-invent Faith, and have the Church’s beginning in the present century.

The problem with Relativism is that in due course, today’s relativism falls victim to tomorrow’s Relativism. When truth disappears, so does the firmness of any position. Even false ones. All are eventually cast into the devouring fires of the Relativist Moloch.
Disingenuously, Rousseau put it succinctly: “Sometimes men must be forced to be free.”

Contrast this with the elegant formulation of the great Thomist Garrigou-Lagrange:

“The Church is intolerant in principle, because she believes, but is tolerant in practice, because she loves. The enemies of the Church are tolerant in principle, because they do not believe; but are intolerant in practice, because they do not love.”

It shouldn’t surprise us that the relativists’ methods are arbitrary and crushing. Since they have long left the bright uplands of virtue and doctrine, their weapons leave behind the delicacy of those instruments that once were the arsenal of Mother Church. They passionately argue that these are a ‘paternalism’ of a dead past.
Closer to the truth, it is one of the most ancient terms for the Church, beginning with St. Cyprian in the third century: “No one can have God as their Father, who does not have the Church as their mother.”