Pope Benedict's Easter Vigil Homily

Here is an excerpt from Pope Benedict's Easter Vigil Homily delievered on April 23 at St. Peter's Basilica. "thanks to the resurrection of the Lord ... life remains good, ... hence we can and must place ourselves on the side of reason, freedom and love – on the side of God who loves us so much that he suffered for us, that from his death there might emerge a new, definitive and healed life".

Here is a link to the full text of Pope Benedict's Homily.

Good Friday Meaning and Pratices

Meaning
Good Friday is the Friday within Holy Week, and is traditionally a time of fasting and penance, commemorating the anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion and death. For Christians, Good Friday commemorates not just a historical event, but the sacrificial death of Christ, which with the resurrection, comprises the heart of the Christian faith. The Catholic Catechism states this succinctly:

Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men (CCC 1992).

This is based on the words of St. Paul: “[Believers] are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood… (Romans 3:24-25, NAB).

Pratices

The customs and prayers associated with Good Friday typically focus on the theme of Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins.

Good Friday is the second day of the Paschal Triduum. The major Good Friday worship services begin in the afternoon at 3:00 (the time Jesus likely died). Various traditions and customs are associated with the celebration of Good Friday.

The singing (or preaching) of the Passion of St. John’s gospel consists of reading or singing parts of John’s gospel.  The Veneration of the Cross is also common. This is when Christians approach a wooden cross and venerate it, often by kneeling before it, or kissing part of it.

In addition to these traditions, Holy Communion with the reserved host is practiced. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, no Masses are said on Good Friday, therefore the reserved host from the Holy Thursday Mass is used.

Many Churches also offer the Stations of the Cross, also called the “Way of the Cross,” on Good Friday. This is a devotion in which fourteen events surrounding the death of Jesus are commemorated. Most Catholic Churches have fourteen images of Jesus’ final days displayed throughout the parish, for use in public Stations of the Cross services.

above text adapted from ucatholic.com

Indifference to God brings indifference to evil, says Pope

On Wednesday, April 20th, in his last Papal Audience before Easter, Pope Benedict reflected upon Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane when the apostles slept and how it relates to us sometimes allowing ourselves to become indifferent to God. 

Below are two excerpts from Pope Benedict's address and a link to an article summarizing it.

“It’s our very sleepiness to the presence of God that renders us insensitive to evil: we don’t hear God because we don’t want to be disturbed, and so we remain indifferent to evil."

"Stay awake and keep vigil ... is a permanent message for all time because the disciples’ sleepiness is not a problem of that one moment, but rather of the whole of history, ‘the sleepiness’ is ours, of those of us who do not want to see the full force of evil and do not want to enter into his Passion.”

Link to Summary   

Another Great Student Made Video

This video was created by students at Chaminade for the "Goodness Reigns Contest."  Click on the link below to watch the video and vote for it in the contest. (As of 2:45pm on 4/20 it is in the lead)

Video Link

Entry in i-confess.com Contest from a Fellow Student

Here is an entry for the i-confess.com video contest (see previous post) from Chaminade.  This video was made by a sophomore History of Salvation II student.

A Palm Sunday Meditation: Take Up My Cross?

Rev. James Martin, SJ writes a great reflection for Palm Sunday and Holy Week.  He touches upon many of the topics we studied at the end of the trimester: crosses, suffering, resurrection, etc.   Here is an excerpt:

"God's gift of resurrection is usually a complete surprise, just like it was for the Apostles. And just as the Apostles discovered on Easter Sunday, the resurrection does not come when you expect it. It sometimes takes a long time to come at all. 

And when it does come, it's often not what you would expect it to look like.

Most of all, it's often hard to describe, because it's personal -- it's your resurrection."

Click Here for Full Text

Saints, Celebrities and Superheroes

As you guys prepare for the trimester exam, you are probably asking yourself "why do we have to study all these Saints?" Well, Fr Dwight Longenecker writes a great article entitled Saints, Celebrities and Superheroes that answers that exact question.

Here is an excerpt:

"But celebrities are shallow and superheroes are not real. Meanwhile, within the economy of salvation the good God gives us exactly what we do need: ordinary people who really have become perfect. Ordinary people who really have assumed otherworldly powers. Ordinary people who have become extraordinary people. They have become super powers in the universe by God's grace." 

Click Here for Whole Article