A Better Catholic

First Day of Misa de Gallo

2011-12-16T21:30:00.000+08:00

Misa de Gallo is the name given in Spanish to the mass celebrated at midnight on Christmas Eve. Here in the Philippines, the prayer is done early in the morning on Christmas Eve, and it is the last day of a nine-day ritual known as Simbang Gabi, and today is the start of the nine-day ritual. Completing the nine days of Misa de Gallo is said to make a wish come true, and many Filipinos believe this centuries-old promise up to this day.

It's time of Puto bumbong and bibingka too!

God Knows Us By Name

2011-09-24T22:28:00.000+08:00

[image source: soulcitygraphics]

I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

Your walls are always in my presence.

- Isaiah 49:16

How do you feel when you are an ordinary worker, and your boss knows you, or calls you by your name? Isn't it you are happy?

There are others who struggle to let their masters know them. But with God, we don't need to strive hard to let God know us. He definitely knows us all, by our name. Our name, not in diploma, not in awards, not in plaques, but in God's Hand and on God's lips. Aren't we not just happy about it, but delighted? Isn't it the most important award to all of us. Think of it. And thank God for remembering you.

And a way to thank God for his remembering, is for remembering Him too, always.

What Are Holy Bibles For?

2011-09-24T15:00:00.001+08:00

[image source: smiletemplates.com]

Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path.
- Psalm 119:105

The Holy Bible is the Word of God. And this words show us the right path. Imagine yourself walking at darkness. It is definitely difficult. We need a light to guide us on our path, and so God gave us His words, to lead us to the right direction of our lives.

If we keep God's word is along the way, we will not easily be deceived. We will see that this light reveals the path ahead of us.

This concludes that understanding the purpose of the bible is like setting the compass in the right direction, use it properly and we will all be on a safe journey.

Listening To God's Word

2011-09-16T14:00:00.002+08:00

On Day 9 of the book Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado, he started the page by this scripture:

"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night,
so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.

Then you will be prosperous and successful."
- Joshua 1:8
New International Version (NIV)

So how could we listen to God's heart?

In this book I learned important tools on how I can learn to listen to God. And what are those tools? Here are the ones he found useful, and I'm beginning to realize that these are definitely useful for one who wanting to be a Better Catholic:

A regular time and place. Select a slot on your schedule and a corner of your world, and claim it for God. For some it may be the best to do this in the morning...others prefer in the evening...

A second tool you need is an open Bible. God speaks to us through his word. The first step to reading the bible is to ask God to help you understand it...Don't go to scripture looking for your own idea; go searching for God's.

There is a third tool... A listening heart...If you want to be just like Jesus, let God have you. Spend time listening for him until you receive your lesson for the day - then apply it.

What do you think of Max Lucado's tools on listening to God? Did you find it helpful?

A Word For You - The Holy Bible

2011-09-15T20:32:00.000+08:00

In the article "A 'Word' for You: Looking for a Catholic Bible" by Maria Jose Franco published on the Catholic.net, She summarized what a Bible is and what this book will do to our lives. She emphasized that the Bible is one of the oldest in history and continues to be a best seller decade after decade, not because the book is meant to narrate what happened 3000 years ago but it is a book that leads us to God. And most importantly, this Holy Bible is written for us.

Me, as a Catholic honestly lacks exposure to the Bible and it is only limited on what I hear during Sunday Mass. And sometimes it is hard for me to understand what the scriptures say, unless the Priest gives relevant examples to explain the readings on the bible.

But me, wanting to be a Better Catholic should not stop. Remember, the Bible is the Word of God. God is speaking to us through text. Accorfing to Franco, This is his "Word" to us and the 72 books in the Bible is God's love letter to us.

Here are the pointers given by Maria Jose Franco on how we read this love letter, The Holy Bible:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit for some help! Just say, “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love.”

2. Read it. You can do this before going to bed or when you wake up. Do it for ten minutes; it won’t take much time, and you will gain a lot.

3. Study it. Take part in a Bible course, either at your parish or on-line.

4. Learn from it and apply it. Learn from the examples of the Bible figures; for example Moses’ perseverance in the desert, Daniel’s courage before the lions, David’s repentance after his sins. And there is even more to learn from Christ. Apply this to your life. How can I keep going in my Christian life when things are hard? What would Christ do?

5. Pray about it. There are many methods of prayer. You can set aside some time at the beginning of your day where you pray to the Holy Spirit, read a passage of the Bible, and meditate on it. For example, in John 4, Christ meets the Samaritan woman. You might know the story by heart, but this time read the passage slowly. Did something new strike you? Can you relate to that woman? Are you thirsty for something in life? If you happened to encounter Christ standing by the “well,” what would you tell him?

6. Share it. Read to your kids before they go to bed. Buy an illustrated Bible so they can get into it. Draw the morals or lessons that they can learn from it and ask them to come up with a resolution of how they can live that the next day.

7. Find help. Use a book if you feel you are going nowhere. There are many books with meditations or explanations about the Bible that could help you. Make sure it is a Catholic Bible since some other editions exclude some of the seventy-two books of the Bible, leaving the story incomplete.

He also gave some pointers to check when acquiring a Bible:

1. The “imprimatur” notice on the back of the title page. An imprimatur indicates that the book is free of errors in Catholic doctrine.

2. Check the index and make sure it has the seventy-two inspired books.

3. A tip: The New American Bible, Ignatius Bible, and The New Jerusalem Bible are great choices!

Happy Birthday Mama Mary!

2011-09-08T22:42:00.000+08:00

We are celebrating today the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated at least by the sixth century, when St. Romanos the Melodist, an Eastern Christian who composed hymns used in the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgies, composed a hymn for the feast. The feast spread to Rome in the seventh century, but it was a couple more centuries before it was celebrated throughout the West.

The traditional date of the feast, September 8, falls exactly nine months after the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The story of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary is coined on the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal gospel written about A.D. 150. From this gospel we came to know that Mary's parents are Joachim and Anna, as well as the tradition that the couple was childless until an angel appeared to Anna and told her that she would conceive.

In celebration of Mama Mary's birthday, some Filipino celebrities joined in praying a million rosaries for World Peace. The project aims to enlist a million Filipinos to pray the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary for peace. The prayer project is called "A MIllion Roses for the World".

Why not visit the official site of Million Roses of the World and submit your pledge as a birthday gift to Mama Mary!

Happy birthday Mama Mary!

The Creation - Day Seven

2011-09-04T23:00:00.000+08:00

[image credit: apwin.org]

"By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing;
so on the seventh day He rested from all His work.
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done."

Genesis 2:2-3

God celebrated all the good work he had done. He blessed the seventh day and made it holy. God made it a special day, different from all the rest. Don't you think that it is what God wants us also to do? That on the seventh day of every week, He wants us to rest and enjoy all that He has made.

God made everything. God is so good!

The Creation - Day Six

2011-09-03T16:22:00.000+08:00

On the Sixth Day God said "Let the land produce living creatures
according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground,
and wild animals, each according to its kind...

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,
and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,
over the livestock, over all the earth,
and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
he created him; male and female he created them.

God blessed them them and said to them,
"Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it...

God saw all that he had made and it was very good.

And there was evening and there was morning - the sixth day.

Genesis 1:24-26

God's creation on the sixth day is something very special. Everything else he created from day one to day 5 was all set for his last creation, the man. Everything was ready for a man to live. Truly a God of Love! And not only that, always remember that God has made us in his own image. When God sees us, he sees a reflection of himself.

The Creation - Day Five

2011-09-02T18:00:00.000+08:00

And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."

So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and
moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds,
and every winged bird according to its kind.

And God saw that it was good.

God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and
fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."

And there was evening, and there was morning - the fifth day.

Genesis 1:20-23

God had made water, soil, air, plants and fruits for food. He created the sun to give light and warmth. Now God created the birds in the sky and the fishes in the ocean, the Earth’s first inhabitants and commanded them to multiply. God’s Word was fulfilled exactly the way He said.

The Creation - Day Four

2011-09-01T18:00:00.000+08:00

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night,
and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth."

And it was so. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and
the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,
to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.
And God saw that it was good.

And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day.

Haven't you thought that God created light on the first day of creation? Yes he did but these are specific lights. What he did on the fourth day is to separate the day from the night. He gave us something specific to mark the days with, to help us keep track of the days, years and seasons.

Can you imagine a world where we didn’t have any darkness? And a total darkness? And because of this he made the moon and the stars for the night.

God was very good indeed!

The Creation - Day Three

2011-09-01T11:59:00.000+08:00

There was still water covering everything.

On the third day, God said, "Let the water beneath the sky be gathered into seas."

Then the water began to move.

There were all sorts of seas,
lakes,
and
rivers.

This formed dry land.

On the land,
there were tall mountains.
There were deep valleys.
God called the dry land earth

God said, "Let the earth give all grass, and plant, and every sort of fruit with seeds inside the fruit and plants so there will be more."

God was pleased.

Thanks God for these wonderful creations, the seas, the rivers, the trees, the colorful plants. There are no words good enough to thank you for all of these. Just thank you for everything! Should we all thank God for all his masterpiece?

The Creation - Day Two

2011-08-28T19:21:00.021+08:00

There was light but still water covered everything.

On the second day, God said, "Let the vapors separate to form the sky above and the oceans below.

This made the sky above.

This made the air we breathe.

God looked at what He had done.
God was pleased.

Thanks God for the beautiful oceans and seas.

God entrusted us all his creations. And what are we doing? These creations are at risk from human activities.

Population growth, coastal fisheries, excessive domestic and agricultural waste pouring into ocean waters, poor land-use practices and over-exploitation of reef resources, with practices such as harvesting with dynamite and poison.

Again, what are we doing? We are destroying God's creations. We can help to save our seas but we must act now, let's do our share.

The Creation - Day One

2011-08-27T19:21:00.001+08:00

In the beginning, there was nothing.

The earth and the sky were all dark.

They were one big shapeless mass.

God said, " Let there be light."

The light appeared!

He divided the light from the darkness.

He let it shine for a while then it became dark again.

He called the light daytime

He called the dark nighttime.

This was the first day.

God was pleased.

When God created the universe, did he plan it all or did he do it at once? Are there sketches, timetables, paper trails and more?

Did he miss something? Because God is perfect, all his ideas are perfectly done.

Whatever our guess, let's thank God we are part of his perfect creations!

The Ten Commandments of God

2011-08-24T19:06:00.001+08:00

[image credit: art.com]

The 10 Commandments is God's Revelation in the Old Testament found at Exodus, Chapter 20. They were given directly by God to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai after He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt.

"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

Think how wonderful to live in the world given by our Holy God if these 10 commandments are being obeyed by each and everyone of us. No crimes, no worries.

Footprints In The Sand

2011-08-18T13:30:00.007+08:00

One night I had a dream--

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.
This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
"I don't understand why in times when I needed you most,
you should leave me."
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.
"When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

...Mary Stevenson

This timeless classic was originally written with the reference of 'Author Anonymous' . Since then there have been numerous people clamining they wrote this wonderful poem, such as Mary Stevenson, Burrell Webb, and Margaret Fishback Powers. This poem has inspired lots of people over the years and whoever the true author is... thank you for this inspirational poem you shared to us!

The 3 O’clock Prayer

2011-08-10T18:05:00.016+08:00

Jesus told Saint Faustina, “I remind you, My daughter, that as often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners; for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. . . . try your best to make the Stations of the Cross in this hour” (Diary, 1572).

Why three o’clock?

Well, remember that Scripture tells us that at three o’clock in the afternoon, on the Friday He was crucified, Jesus “gave up His spirit” (Matthew 27:50; see Mark 15:37, Luke 23:46), the “veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51; see Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45), and that shortly thereafter a soldier thrust his lance into Jesus’ side and “immediately blood and water flowed out” (John 19:34).

Theologically, this tells us that access to the “Holy of Holies” of the Temple, once limited only to the High Priest behind the veil, was given to every soul when Jesus’ heart was torn at the three o’clock hour. With His Sacred Heart opened wide, Blood and Water—love and purification, the red and white rays of The Divine Mercy—poured forth into a world darkened by sin.

What an awesome gift!

And so, because Christ died for us on a Friday, we should make every Friday into a day of penance and thanksgiving. Spiritual exercises (such as the Stations of the Cross), fasting (this is the origin of the tradition of meatless Fridays), and other practices (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church § 1438, below) join us spiritually with Christ in His unfathomable love for us.

And, whenever possible, we should take the time out of our work, every day at three o’clock, to join with that infinite love and mercy without which we would have no work—and no life.

The 3 O’clock Prayer

You died Jesus, but the source of life flowed out for souls and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.

O Fountain of Life, immeasurable Divine Mercy, cover the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

O Blood and Water which flowed out from the heart of Jesus as a Fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and the whole world.

AMEN.

Jesus, King of Mercy, we trust in You!

[source and image credit: Chastity - in SF]

The Our Father Prayer

2011-08-09T17:38:00.004+08:00

The Lord's Prayer (also called the Pater Noster or Our Father) is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke which records Jesus being approached by "one of his disciples" with a request to teach them "to pray as John taught his disciples."

The Our Father is based on these passages from the Bible: Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.

Matthew 6:9-13

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

   “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
   on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
   as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.’

Luke 11:2-4

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

   “‘Father,[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
   for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

Our Father

Traditional version:

Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Newer version:

Our Father, Who is in heaven,
Holy is Your Name;
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Fifteen Promises of the Virgin Mary

2011-08-08T17:18:00.007+08:00

[image credit: ASMSI]

"To pray the rosary is to hand over our burdens to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother." - John Paul II

Did you ever wonder what the 15 promises of the Blessed Virgin Mary were and where they came from?

Blessed Alan de la Roche and Dominic the Prussian, revived the Rosary during the last quarter of the 15th century, after a period of about 100 years where the Rosary had been forgotten. Thousands were inspired by Bl. Alan's claim that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him, telling him to take up the work started by St. Dominic, the founder of Bl. Alan's own order.

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.

2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.

3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.

4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.

5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.

6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.

7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.

8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.

9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.

10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.

11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.

12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.

13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.

14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.

15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Stressed? Worried? Anxious? Pray the Rosary every day. If you persevere in this, all you ask, you will receive.

How To Pray The Rosary

2011-08-08T16:11:00.012+08:00

[image credit Trinity Casting Company]

I remember when I was a child, I used to practice and pray the Holy Rosary. I have a pamphlet which my mother bought me that guide me on how to pray the rosary.

I admit that as I grew up I wasn't able to recite this anymore. All I did was to study and do the usual daily activities, until I graduated and worked and forget about the holy rosary, though I do pray to God daily, and I'm sure of that!

Now as I grew old I want to know more about God and his teachings and I believe that praying the Holy Rosary is one means of becoming a better catholic.

How to Pray the Rosary

1.While holding the crucifix make the Sign of the Cross and then recite the Apostles Creed.

2.Recite the Our Father on the first large bead.

3.On each of the three small beads recite a Hail Mary for an increase of faith, hope and charity.

4.Recite the Glory Be to the Father on the next large bead.

5.Recall the first Rosary Mystery and recite the Our Father on the next large bead. The Joyful Mysteries are meditated on Monday and Saturday, Sundays of Advent and after Epiphany until Lent. The Sorrowful Mysteries are meditated on Tuesday and Friday, and Sundays in Lent. The Glorious Mysteries are meditated on Wednesday and Sunday. The Luminous Mysteries are meditated on Thursday.

6.On each of the adjacent ten small beads (also refered to as a decade) recite a Hail Mary while reflecting on the mystery.

7.On the next large bead, recite the Glory Be to the Father. The Fatima decade prayer may also be said.
8.Each succeeding decade is prayed in a similar manner by recalling the appropriate mystery, reciting the Our Father, ten Hail Marys, the Glory Be to the Father, and the Fatima decade prayer (optional) while reflecting on the mystery.

9.When the fifth mystery is completed, the Rosary is Customarily concluded with the Hail, Holy Queen.

How about you, do you remember reciting the Holy Rosary during your childhood days?

The Holy Rosary

2011-08-07T15:50:00.005+08:00

[image credit to praytheholyrosary.com]

What the Rosary Is

The word Rosary means "Crown of Roses". Our Lady has revealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is the rose of all devotions and it is therefore the most important one.

The Rosary is made up of two things: mental prayer and vocal prayer.

In the Holy Rosary mental prayer is none other than meditation of the chief mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother. The original fifteen mysteries are divided into Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious. John Paul II added in 2002 the Luminous Mysteries, or Mysteries of Light.

Vocal prayer consists in saying fifteen or five decades of the Hail Mary, each decade headed by an Our Father, while at the same time meditating on and contemplating the fifteen principal virtues which Jesus and Mary practised in the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary.The complete Rosary consists of fifteen decades, but is more commonly said in five decades.

So the Rosary is a blessed blending of mental and vocal prayer by which we honor and learn to imitate the mysteries and the virtues of the life, death, passion and glory of Jesus and Mary.

The Holy Mother Church received the Rosary in its 15 mysteries form in 1214 in a miraculous way, when Our Lady appeared to Saint Dominic and gave it to him as a powerful means of converting the heretics and other sinners. Since then the devotion spread around the world with incredible and miraculous results.

Benefits of the Rosary

1. It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ.
2. It purifies our souls, washing away sin.
3. It gives us victory over all our enemies.
4. It makes it easy for us to practice virtue.
5. It sets us on fire with love of Our Lord.
6. It enriches us with graces and merits.
7. It supplies us with what is needed to pay all our debts to God and to our fellow men; and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.

Blessings of the Rosary

1. Sinners are forgiven.
2. Souls that thirst are refreshed.
3. Those who are fettered have their bonds broken.
4. Those who weep find happiness.
5. Those who are tempted find peace.
6. The poor find help.
7. Religious are reformed.
8. Those who are ignorant are instructed.
9. The living learn to overcome pride.
10. The dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased by suffrages.

Source: Our Lady Of Guadalupe

How about you, do you recite the Holy Rosary daily?

Sacraments of the Catholic Church

2011-08-07T15:33:00.028+08:00

I have come across this blog, American Catholic and have read this article about the Seven Holy Sacraments. Though I am a pure Catholic, I am not very much aware of this Catholic teachings. Check out the post and let's have another learning for a better Catholic understanding.

The Latin word sacramentum means "a sign of the sacred." The seven sacraments are ceremonies that point to what is sacred, significant and important for Christians. They are special occasions for experiencing God's saving presence. That's what theologians mean when they say that sacraments are at the same time signs and instruments of God's grace.

Baptism

For Catholics, the Sacrament of Baptism is the first step in a lifelong journey of commitment and discipleship. Whether we are baptized as infants or adults, Baptism is the Church's way of celebrating and enacting the embrace of God.

Eucharist

Catholics believe the Eucharist, or Communion, is both a sacrifice and a meal. We believe in the real presence of Jesus, who died for our sins. As we receive Christ's Body and Blood, we also are nourished spiritually and brought closer to God.

Reconciliation

The Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as Penance, or Penance and Reconciliation) has three elements: conversion, confession and celebration. In it we find God's unconditional forgiveness; as a result we are called to forgive others.

Confirmation

Confirmation is a Catholic Sacrament of mature Christian commitment and a deepening of baptismal gifts. It is one of the three Sacraments of Initiation for Catholics. It is most often associated with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Marriage

For Catholics, the Sacrament of Marriage, or Holy Matrimony, is a public sign that one gives oneself totally to this other person. It is also a public statement about God: the loving union of husband and wife speaks of family values and also God's values.

Holy Orders

In the Sacrament of Holy Orders, or Ordination, the priest being ordained vows to lead other Catholics by bringing them the sacraments (especially the Eucharist), by proclaiming the Gospel, and by providing other means to holiness.

Anointing of the Sick

The Catholic Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, formerly known as Last Rites or Extreme Unction, is a ritual of healing appropriate not only for physical but also for mental and spiritual sickness.

On my next posts I will try to find more easy to understand articles so we can learn more about these individual sacraments.

The Catholic Church

2011-08-06T15:30:00.000+08:00

From Wikepedia, the term "Catholic" was derived from the Greek word καθολικός (katholikos), which means "universal" or "general", was first used to describe the Church in the early 2nd century.[12] The term katholikos is equivalent to καθόλου (katholou), a contraction of the phrase κατὰ ὅλου (kata holou) meaning "according to the whole."[13] Thus the full name Catholic Church roughly means "universal" or "whole" church.

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, reporting more than a billion members.[1] Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity.

The Catholic Church is among the oldest institutions in the world and has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilisation.[5] It teaches that it is the one true Church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles and that the Pope is the successor to Saint Peter.

Catholic doctrine maintains that the Church is infallible when it dogmatically teaches a doctrine of faith or morals. Catholic worship is centred on the Eucharist in which the Church teaches bread and wine are supernaturally transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ.

The Church holds the Blessed Virgin Mary in special regard. Catholic beliefs concerning Mary include her Immaculate Conception and bodily Assumption at the end of her earthly life.

A Better Catholic

2011-08-06T13:35:00.000+08:00

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