Month: November 2012

Intercession

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A while ago in our Young Adult group we were talking about praying before the Eucharist (“Adoration”) and I had asked the question “What do you actually do during Adoration?”

Some of the group spoke about reading Scripture.

Others spoke about praying the rosary.

One girl beautifully described it as “…just having quality Father/Daughter time”.

One word which was absent from the discussion was “Intercession”. It got me to thinking. How often do I regularly pray for those in my life? My family? My friends? My co-workers? What about the employees of the shops where I purchase my morning coffee or lunchtime sandwich? How often do I intercede for these people? Almost certainly not as much as I should…

My friend Art went to Lourdes and took with him prayer requests from his friends here in California…

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is this: this week, especially during Adoration, I’d invite you to spend a little bit of time interceding for those people you know – friends, family, country…favourite bloggers.

Second Century Liturgy Uploaded!

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A while ago I uploaded a document to the Patristics section of this blog which was a short extract from the writings of St. Justin, apologist and martyr of the Early Church. The extract came from his First Apology where he wrote about the liturgy of the Church in Rome during the Second Century. I’ve recently been doing some blog maintenance and I’ve now recorded that document onto MP3:

 First Apology (Extract) from St. Justin Martyr

More recordings will be coming over the next couple of weeks: Apostolic Tradition and the Liturgy of St. James.

Historic Worship

I would suggest that a large number of Christians naturally assume that the Early Church worshiped in the same way as their own congregation in 21st Century America:

Relevant Worship(Thanks to Patrick Vanderpool for the artwork)

Thankfully, we are not left in ignorance as to how the Early Church worshiped, since Church Fathers such as St. Justin left us written descriptions. These documents show us that the Early Church had a structured liturgy which had, at its centre, the Eucharist.

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Pius Voting

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Pope Pius XII

Consequently, there is a heavy responsibility on everyone, man or woman, who has the right to vote, especially when the interests of religion are at stake; abstention in this case is in itself, it should be thoroughly understood, a grave and a fatal sin of omission.

On the contrary, to exercise, and exercise well, one’s right to vote is to work effectively for the true good of the people, as loyal defenders of the cause of God and of the Church.

– Pope Pius XII, Allocution to the Congress of the International Union of Catholic Women’s Leagues, Rome, Italy, September 11, 1947.

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