Jun
23
Sacred Music, the Sacrifice of Calvary, and the Wedding Feast
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PLEASE NOTE: This post has been edited. For those of you who have already read the original post, please be aware that I have retracted any implicitly negative or attacking statement about the ministers and clergy of my home parish. None of them were of ill-intent, but most of them were imprudent. In the future, I plan to practice better prudence in these matters from the very start.
The Mass, as my father always said, is first and foremost a SACRIFICE. It is the re-presentation of Christ’s death on the cross - the moment when he atoned for our sins and won us our salvation. This is no small thing, nor something we ought to take lightly. In the Old Testament, there were many sacrifices offered to God. From the moment when God revealed himself to Abraham, he began preparing mankind with types and figures of how a sacrifice ought to be offered. It is important to see how far back the rituals, prayers, vestments, priestly function, and solemnity of the Mass today reach back. This wasn’t just the invention of the apostles or some councils. This is the work of the Holy Spirit which - from the beginning - has been guiding us and teaching us how God desires to be worshiped. I think about that sometimes and am held in awe of how privileged we are to participate in and see the fruits of such an ancient heritage!
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Jun
14
A Corpus Christi Sunday Meditation
Filed Under Eucharist, Mass Readings, Reflection, Scripture | Leave a Comment
Today is one of my favorite feasts of the entire Church year: the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. As a new member of the Tantum Ergo Sacramentum household on the campus of Franciscan University, this feast holds very important meaning for me and my brothers. As a feast celebrating the Eucharist, it is inevitably a glorious occasion. We are celebrating today the very source and summit of our Christian life. In the tradition of my household, I wanted to include a reflection on this weekend’s readings for the benefit of all who desire it. While it is customary to provide this reflection on Saturday night, I have chosen to do so on Sunday evening instead. This is such a profound day, and it deserves to be savored.
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Jun
14
To all my loyal readers, I’d like to apologize for the length of time I have been absent from the blogosphere. While I’d like to have you believe my time has been consumed by other worthy ventures, I cannot accept such undue credit. Certainly, schoolwork and extracurricular activities have been very time consuming, but I am afraid my absence from this blog has been primarily out of spiritual neglect.
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