Reflection on Christian Baptism - The Feast of Baptism of the Lord
Incarnation as Ground of Baptism
The wonderful ancient text of the Antiphon for the Vespers of the feast of Divine Maternity exclaimed "the admirable exchange." God in taking our humanity has so deigned to share His divinity to us. The reality of our Lord's assumption of our human nature made possible the reality of our access to the divinity (see the article: The Marian Council of Chalcedon). As Fr. Peter Damien Fehlner, the author of the article we refer to indicated, that the denial of Christ's assumption of true human nature leads to all denial of the role of human elements in justification such as free will, the sacraments, the mediation of the Church, so the Sacrament of Baptism finds its primordial root in the mystery of Incarnation.... READ MORE
Pope Benedict XVI on the Holy Family
"Living Image of the Love of God"
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 1, 2007.- Here is the Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered Sunday, the feast of the Holy Family, before reciting the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered in St. Peter's Square.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On this last Sunday of the year we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth. I address with joy all the families of the world, wishing them the peace and love that Jesus brought us in coming among us at Christmas.
In the Gospel we do not find discourses on the family but an event which is worth more than any words: God wanted to be born and to grow up in a human family. In this way he consecrated the family as the first and ordinary means of his encounter with humanity.... READ MORE
The Holy Family: The Social Dimension of Redemption
One of the most interesting feasts the Catholic Church celebrates within the octave of Christmas is the Feast of the Holy Family. The designation of "Holy Family" refers to the family unit consisting of St. Joseph, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. Devotion to the Holy Family has a Christological and Marian root so much so that the dignity of that institution can not be fully understood nor defended without some reference to Christ and to Our Lady. The family can not be fully understood unless seen from the perspective of God who deigned to institute it. The nature of the family, therefore, and its identity tend to be undermined in our modern society today in the absence of theology. I wish to offer in this blog some theological insights of the role of the family in the redemption and its practical implications in the modern world. ... READ MORE
Revelation of Light and Love: Mystery of Epiphany
The following is the homily given by Pope Benedict XVI on the celebration of the Feast of Epiphany in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The light that shone in the night at Christmas illuminating the Bethlehem Grotto, where Mary, Joseph and the shepherds remained in silent adoration, shines out today and is manifested to all. The Epiphany is a mystery of light, symbolically suggested by the star that guided the Magi on their journey. The true source of light, however, the “sun that rises from on high” (cf. Lk 1: 78), is Christ.... READ MORE
Urbi et Orbi Message of Pope Benedict XVI
URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI
CHRISTMAS 2007
“A holy day has dawned upon us.
Come you nations and adore the Lord.
Today a great light has come upon the earth.”
(Day Mass of Christmas, Gospel Acclamation)
Dear Brothers and Sisters! “A holy day has dawned upon us.” A day of great hope: today the Saviour of mankind is born. The birth of a child normally brings a light of hope to those who are waiting anxiously. When Jesus was born in the stable at Bethlehem, a “great light” appeared on earth; a great hope entered the hearts of those who awaited him: in the words of today’s Christmas liturgy, “lux magna”. Admittedly it was not “great” in the manner of this world, because the first to see it were only Mary, Joseph and some shepherds, then the Magi, the old man Simeon, the prophetess Anna: those whom God had chosen. Yet, in the shadows and silence of that holy night, a great and inextinguishable light shone forth for every man; the great hope that brings happiness entered into the world: “the Word was made flesh and we saw his glory” (Jn 1:14).... READ MORE
There is No Room at the Inn - The Pope's Christmas Message
The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI delivered his Christmas Midnight Mass homily which was a message of hope but at the same time prophetic for our time and age.
There are at least two major recurring themes, though not wholly exhausted in them, that were present in the Holy Father's Christmas homily: (1) Alienation of Christ by the Secular World (2) Re-creation as central to the mystery of Incarnation.... READ MORE
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