JP2 Group in Southern Cross
The Young Adult group which I help coordinate was in our Diocesan newspaper this week, The Southern Cross. Here’s the article :
Click to enlarge
Tag: featured
The Epistle of Joy – Episode #15 (Video)
Today we begin the final chapter of Philippians, Chapter 4:
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. – Philippians 4:1-3
Here are my thoughts on today’s text:
For an audio-only version of this video, please click here.
Why palms?
Today’s post is one of those blog entries which I wrote quickly wrote and then forgot to schedule for publishing. Well, better late than never…
Tonight I went to an Eastern Orthodox parish for Saturday Vespers and I was struck by how they decorated their church in preparation for Palm Sunday:
Now, the reason for decorating with palms was obvious, given that Sunday is called “Palm Sunday” and in the liturgy we’ll hear the account of Jesus being welcomed with palm branches:
The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” – John 12:12-13
However, I got to wondering…why palms? Was there any significance to it?
Thinking about it, I realized that many of the icons in my own parish featured palm branches. What was the symbolism? I was curious, so I went looking…
Jesus Never Existed? Bart Ehrman Responds
Several times over the last few weeks I’ve had conversations where friends have have seriously cast doubt over the very existence of Jesus of Nazareth, claiming that there’s no evidence that He’s even a real, historical figure.
You tend to hear stuff like this a lot on the Internet, but such claims are noticeably absent in respected academic scholarship. When I say “academic scholarship”, I’m not just referring to conservative Christian scholars either. I’m including liberal scholars, atheists, agnostics and those of other faiths. To demonstrate this, here’s an interview with Bart Erhman, who is an agnostic, former Christian, and a well-known figure in the area of Biblical criticism:
(I’ve moved the video start time past the pejorative preamble)
Catholic Answers recently produced an article in response in response to a recent article on Salon.com also on this subject.
Things that make me happy
The other day I was thinking about things which make me happy. It’s actually quite a difficult exercise – if you don’t believe me, give it a go. What are the things which make you really, truly happy? Where are the places you can always find joy?
After sitting down and writing the list I’ve concluded that I’m actually quite easy to please. Although in many ways I’m extremely demanding of myself and others, it doesn’t actually take a whole lot to make me happy:
Guardian Angel Feast Day!
You’ll often hear people say that, if you fall asleep while praying the rosary, your guardian angel will finish the rosary for you. If that’s true, I think mine is probably getting kinda sick of me at this point…
The article Guardian Angel Feast Day first appeared on RestlessPilgrim.net
Sounds like a the case of the Maundays…
Today is Holy Thursday. Last week at JP2 I referred to this day as “Maundy Thursday” and was greeted with a number of confused looks. Apparently this moniker isn’t used that often in the United States…
The name “Maundy Thursday” comes from a verse in John’s Gospel. The Latin translation in the Vulgate is as follows:
“Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos”
– Johannes XIII:XXXIV
The word “Maundy” is a corruption of the first word in the above quotation. That word, “Mandatum”, is the root from which we get the English words “mandate” and “mandatory”, terms which we use to indicate that something is required. This is because “Mandatum” literally means “commandment”, as we can see from the translation of the previous passage:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another”
– John 13:34
This is the passage which we will hear read at Mass today and which is then enacted by the priest, where he washes the feet of twelve of his parishioners, in imitation of Christ washing the feet of the Twelve:
