In the mystery of the Transfiguration, our Lord revealed to his disciples the splendor of His Divinity which, till then, was hiding underneath the humble veil of His humanity. In becoming man, God the Son's Divinity was not diminished. The glory which He made manifest on the mountain of the Transfiguration was the glory of God's only begotten Son, full of grace and truth. Indeed, Christ is truly the One in whom the Father set his seal. All things in heaven and on earth and under the earth has been given to Him by the Father. Thus, the vision in the Book of the Prophet Daniel, which was read in today's Mass, speaks of the Son of man receiving from the Father government, honor, and kingship. Every people, nation, and language will serve Him. The Kingship of Christ is real. It is not a myth created by the human imagination. The world and everything in it belongs to Him. If this were so, why are government institutions excluded from His dominion? Why are public schools excluded from His Kingship? Why do people say that the Lord has no say on whatever married couples do in the privacy of their bedroom? Why do women say that the Lord cannot exercise His authority over their wombs? Aren't these clear manifestations of defiance to the kingship of Christ? His dominion extends beyond the walls of the Church. His kingdom covers society as well. Let us not forget the public domain of Christ the Lord. He is God's beloved Son. Listen to Him!
We ought to get back the dimension of the sacred in the liturgy. The liturgy is not a festivity; it is not a meeting for the purpose of having a good time. It is of no importance that the parish priest has cudgeled his brains to come up with suggestive ideas or imaginative novelties. The liturgy is what makes the Thrice-Holy God present amongst us; it is the burning bush; it is the Alliance of God with man in Jesus Christ, who has died and risen again. The grandeur of the liturgy does not rest upon the fact that it offers an interesting entertainment, but in rendering tangible the Totally Other, whom we are not capable of summoning. He comes because He wills. In other words, the essential in the liturgy is the mystery, which is realized in the common ritual of the Church; all the rest diminishes it. Men experiment with it in lively fashion, and find themselves deceived, when the mystery is transformed into distraction, when the chief actor in the liturgy is not the Living God but the priest or the liturgical director. - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Chile, 1988)
Do we still need sacred space, sacred time, mediating symbols? Yes, we do need them, precisely so that, through the "image," through the sign, we learn to see the openness of heaven. We need them to give us the capacity to know the mystery of God in the pierced heart of the Crucified. - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Spirit of the Liturgy )
Music for Lent: The Media Vita
-
The hour of Compline is far more variable in the Dominican Office than in
the Roman, often changing the antiphon of the psalms, the hymn, and the
antiphon ...
3 April – “There was an old Bishop of Chichester…”
-
Today is the Feast of St. Richard of Chichester (+1262), who defended the
rights of the Church against the state. I am reminded of a limerick which
my old,...
Laetare Sunday Sermon: Jerusalem is at hand
-
by Father Richard CipollaSaint Josaphat's, Flushing, Queens (New York)Today
we mark Laetare Sunday, so called because of the first words of the Introit
of ...
Prayer before and after Choir
-
The following prayer for choirs (scholæ cantorum), intended to be used at
the start and end of each practice or session, was devised and adorned with
chant...
Mary's Month of May, and Sir Nikolaus Pevsner
-
"The happy birds Te Deum sing,/'Tis Mary's month of May;/ Her smile turns
winter into spring,/ And darkness into day;/ And there's a fragrance in the
air,/...
The Conclave of the Media
-
Pope Benedict XVI, in his address to the clergy of Rome on the 14th of
February 2013, revealed that during the sessions of the Second Vatican
Council, ther...
No comments:
Post a Comment