A Treasure To Be Shared

Becoming more literate in Christian mystery is somewhat different from becoming knowledgeable about a subject. It involves learning, certainly, but also learning how to contemplate. The mysteries of Christianity are not puzzles to be solved so much as realities that can be entered into ever more deeply. A few practices help: Read Scripture slowly and repeatedly Read entire books for context, but also linger over individual passages. Ask not only "What happened?" but "What does this reveal about God?" The ancient practice of lectio divina is particularly valuable: read, meditate, pray, and contemplate. Learn the language of symbol and typology Christian mystery is often expressed through images, patterns, and correspondences. The Passover lamb points toward Christ. The Ark points toward Mary. The Temple points toward Christ and the Church. Learning these connections greatly enriches one's perception of Scripture and Liturgy. Attend closely to the Liturgy The Chu...

Thrones, also known as Ophanim (Hebrew: אוֹפַנִּים ʼōp̄annīm), meaning “wheels,” are described in Ezekiel’s vision of the merkabah (chariot) in Ezekiel 1:15–21. These wheels are connected to Daniel 7:9, where they are called galgal , often described as “the wheels of galgallin ” in a “fiery flame” and “burning fire.” They are shown as four eye-covered wheels, each formed from two nested wheels, moving together with the winged Cherubim beneath God’s throne. The wheels move in harmony with the Cherubim. The Celestial Hierarchy of Dionysius refers to the Thrones from the Old Testament description as the Third Order of the First Sphere, the other two superior orders being the First Order, the Seraphim, and the Second Order, the Cherubim. CHAPTER VII Of the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones, and their first Hierarchy The name of the most glorious and exalted Thrones denotes that which is exempt from and untainted by any base and earthly thing, and the supermundane ascent up the steep. Fo...

(CNS photo/Vatican Media) Lights, smoke, an elevated platform, guitars, drums, keyboards, and a large crowd facing the performers. A religious service or a rock concert? Candles, incense (... maybe), an elevated platform, guitars, drums, keyboards, and a large congregation facing the clergy. Same question. 'Praise and worship' is a label borrowed from evangelical and charismatic Protestant lexicons. The Catholic understands that God desires to be worshipped and praised in the Divine Liturgy. In the Mass, the Catholic can say, "I was gathered into the offering of the Son to the Father. I participated in the self-offering of God today." God has revealed to us how He wants to be worshipped. Jesus established the model for Catholic worship (St. Matthew 26:17-30). The Latin Rite liturgy has expanded or contracted over the centuries. Universal adjustments were modest until the Bugnini Concilium (1964 - 1969) instituted considerable revisions. A later council of ten faithful...

Cartoonish or Cultivated? Are Latin Rite Catholics—bishops, priests, and laypeople—ignoring the signs? Many voices are being continuously raised warning Latin Rite Catholics to repent of their superficial faith, and turn to God—who remains the same yesterday and today—and stop polluting the temple with profane music, irreverent conduct, and worldly philosophies. These calls for renewal urge the faithful to embrace a deeper, more authentic relationship with God. By fostering genuine worship and a commitment to spiritual growth, parishes can reclaim an authentic Catholic identity and inspire a transformative faith among its members. St John 2:13-17 | The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned t...

Instruct the Ignorant Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.—St. Matthew 28:19-20 Conversations of late have yielded reminders numerous and disappointing with regards to the loss of a Christian vocabulary among Christians. Extraordinary Form and Ordinariate Catholics, and Eastern rite Catholics, seem less prone to confusion, given a dedication to defending Tradition and celebrating the rich and sublime nuances of the Mass in its various traditional forms. The loss of a Catholic vernacular or idiom among diocesan Catholics, however, seems astonishingly complete. Many tradition-minded Catholics are exiles in their own parishes for honouring the Faith with a mind to handing on that which is and always has been Catholic, i.e., Tradition. "Progressive Catholics"—a contradiction in terms if ever there was one—are repelled by the liturgical...

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that like as we do believe thy Only-Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither* ascend, and with him continually dwell; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen. —Collect for The Ascension Of The Lord, Divine Worship: the Missal * toward that place. With the observance of the three minor rogation days now complete, we turn in amazement to the Feast of The Ascension of the Lord. For those who appreciate the significance and symbolism of numbers, not superstitious numerology, the retention of the Thursday position of the Ascension of Our Lord is a great boost to recovering an awareness, on behalf of the whole Church, of the rhythm or design that God has established to aid us in our immersion in the rhythm of the fourfold mystery of the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Which, as Fr. Chr...

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski has a splendid article at the NLM website entitled  Living the Vita Liturgica: Conditions, Obstacles, Prospects. http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2018/04/living-vita-liturgica-conditions.html#.WtbY-iMrLpQ One paragraph among the many helpful sections stands out: Each of us is supposed to be leading a liturgical life, and we need to find or make the right conditions for doing so, and help others to do it. A first and irreplaceable step in awakening the souls of liturgical orphans to the grandeur of divine worship is simply to invite and encourage them to attend the traditional Latin Mass from time to time. There they will experience something strange and uncomfortable, something directed to a transcendent God and not bending over backwards to include and instruct them, something curiously unmodern and even indifferent to its surroundings, yet utterly in earnest. They might get a taste of what adoration, supplication, and repentance feel like. T...