zondag 4 juni 2023
zaterdag 3 juni 2023
donderdag 1 juni 2023
maandag 29 mei 2023
Alexander Agricola - Nobis Sancti Spiritus met enige informatie over de componist, zijn tijd en de compositie
zondag 28 mei 2023
Zalig Pinksteren! "Wij zijn ieder een unieke bundeling van genadegaven in uitvoering"
Zalig Pinksteren!
Zalig in die zin dat het tot heil van Uw ziel strekt, maar ook nog veel ruimer. Ik wens U toe dat U de Gaven van de Heilig Geest deelachtig mag.
De gaven van de Heilige Geest verwijzen naar de speciale bekwaamheden, vermogens en genadegaven die de Heilige Geest schenkt aan individuele gelovigen voor de opbouw van de Kerk en de dienst aan anderen. Ze worden genoemd in verschillende Bijbelpassages waaronder 1 Kor 12, Ef 4 en Rom 12.
Er zijn verschillende lijsten van geestelijke gaven in de Schrift, maar deze zijn lijsten niet uitputtend zijn; de Heilige Geest geeft vrij de gaven die passen bij de unieke behoeften en taken van individuele gelovigen en de gemeenschap waarin ze leven op een bepaald moment. Elke gelovige heeft een unieke combinatie van gaven ontvangen met een dynamische samenstelling. Het is de geloofskunst deze gaven te ontdekken, te ontwikkelen en in overeenstemming met Gods wil te gebruiken. Het is ook belangrijk de gaven van anderen te erkennen en te waarderen, en samen te werken in gemeenschap om het lichaam van Christus te versterken tot eer aan God en heil van mensen.
Wij zijn ieder een unieke bundeling van genadegaven in uitvoering, zoals we ook ieder een uniek Schepsel Gods zijn, met wie God een bijzondere bedoeling en voor wie God een unieke roeping heeft.
Enkele gaven van de Heilige Geest zijn:
Wijsheid: het vermogen om goddelijke wijsheid en inzicht te ontvangen en toe te passen in verschillende situaties.
Kennis: het vermogen om diepgaand begrip te hebben van geestelijke waarheden en Gods Woord.
Geloof: het onwankelbare vertrouwen in God, waardoor bergen verzet kunnen worden en Goddelijke voorziening en doorbraken mogelijk worden.
Genezing: het vermogen om Gods genezende kracht te manifesteren en lichamelijke, emotionele en geestelijke genezing te brengen en te ontvangen.
Profetie: het vermogen om Gods boodschappen door te geven, geïnspireerd door de Heilige Geest, om te bemoedigen, te vermanen, te troosten of te onderwijzen.
Onderscheiding van geesten: het vermogen om geestelijke waarheden te onderscheiden en de bron en intentie achter bepaalde geestelijke manifestaties te herkennen en ook te onderkennen wanneer deze niet van God afkomstig zijn.
Wonderen: het vermogen om bovennatuurlijke tekenen en wonderen uit te voeren die getuigen van de kracht en aanwezigheid van God.
het spreken van Talen en uitleg van talen: het vermogen om in vreemde talen te spreken die niet door de spreker zijn geleerd, of om deze talen te interpreteren voor de opbouw en het begrip van anderen. In de lezingen van Pinksteren wordt beschreven dat ieder de apostelen hoorde spreken in zijn eigen taal.
zaterdag 27 mei 2023
maandag 22 mei 2023
zondag 21 mei 2023
zaterdag 20 mei 2023
vrijdag 19 mei 2023
donderdag 18 mei 2023
Benedictus XVI - „Der Mensch findet nunmehr für immer Raum in Gott“ Christi Himmelfahrt 2009
Liebe Brüder und Schwestern!
»Ihr werdet die Kraft des Heiligen Geistes empfangen, der auf euch herabkommen wird; und ihr werdet meine Zeugen sein in Jerusalem und in ganz Judäa und Samarien und bis an die Grenzen der Erde« (Apg 1,8). Mit diesen Worten verabschiedet sich Jesus von den Aposteln, wie wir in der ersten Lesung gehört haben. Unmittelbar darauf fügt der biblische Autor hinzu: »Als er das gesagt hatte, wurde er vor ihren Augen emporgehoben, und eine Wolke nahm ihn auf und entzog ihn ihren Blicken« (Apg 1,9).
Das ist das Geheimnis von Christi Himmelfahrt, das wir heute feierlich begehen. Was aber wollen uns die Bibel und die Liturgie mitteilen, wenn es heißt, daß Jesus »emporgehoben« wurde? Der Sinn dieses Ausdrucks ist nicht allein einem einzigen Textabschnitt zu entnehmen, ebensowenig einem einzigen Buch des Neuen Testaments, sondern einem aufmerksamen Hören auf die Heilige Schrift insgesamt. Der Gebrauch des Verbums »emporheben« stammt nämlich aus dem Alten Testament und ist auf die Einsetzung in die Königswürde bezogen. Die Himmelfahrt Christi bedeutet also an erster Stelle die Einsetzung des gekreuzigten und auferstandenen Menschensohnes in das Königtum Gottes über die Welt.
Es gibt allerdings einen tieferen, nicht unmittelbar wahrnehmbaren Sinn. In der Apostelgeschichte heißt es zunächst, dass Jesus »emporgehoben« wurde (V. 9), und unmittelbar folgend wird hinzugefügt, dass er »aufgenommen wurde« (V. 11). Das Ereignis ist nicht so beschrieben, als handle es sich um eine Reise in die Höhe, sondern als ein Wirken der Kraft Gottes, die Jesus in den Raum der göttlichen Nähe einführt. Die Gegenwart der Wolke, die »ihn ihren Blicken entzog« (V. 9), bezieht sich auf ein sehr altes Bild der alttestamentlichen Theologie und fügt den Bericht über die Himmelfahrt in die Geschichte Gottes mit Israel ein, von der Wolke des Sinai und über dem Bundeszelt in der Wüste bis hin zur leuchtenden Wolke auf dem Berg der Verklärung.
Dadurch, dass der Herr in die Wolke gehüllt dargestellt wird, wird schließlich auf dasselbe Geheimnis Bezug genommen, das auch im Symbol des »zur Rechten Gottes Sitzens« zum Ausdruck gebracht wird. Im zum Himmel aufgefahrenen Christus ist der Mensch in einer unerhörten und neuen Weise in die Vertrautheit mit Gott eingetreten, der Mensch findet nunmehr für immer Raum in Gott.
Der »Himmel« verweist auf keinen Ort über den Sternen, sondern auf etwas viel Kühneres und Erhabeneres: Er verweist auf Christus selbst, die göttliche Person, die voll und für immer das Menschsein in sich aufnimmt, auf ihn, in dem Gott und Mensch für immer untrennbar vereint sind. Und wir nähern uns dem Himmel, ja wir treten in den Himmel in dem Maß ein, in dem wir uns Jesus nähern und in Gemeinschaft mit ihm treten. Das heutige Hochfest Christi Himmelfahrt lädt uns daher zu einer tiefen Gemeinschaft mit dem gestorbenen und auferstandenen Jesus ein, der unsichtbar im Leben eines jeden von uns gegenwärtig ist.
Aus dieser Perspektive begreifen wir, warum der Evangelist Lukas sagt, dass die Jünger nach der Himmelfahrt »in großer Freude« nach Jerusalem zurückkehrten (24,52). Der Grund ihrer Freude besteht in der Tatsache, dass das, was sich ereignet hatte, in Wahrheit keine Trennung war: im Gegenteil, sie hatten nunmehr die Gewissheit, dass der Gekreuzigte und Auferstandene lebendig war und in ihm der Menschheit für immer die Türen zum ewigen Leben geöffnet worden sind. Mit anderen Worten brachte seine Himmelfahrt nicht seine vorübergehende Abwesenheit von der Welt mit sich, sondern leitete vielmehr die neue, endgültige und unzerstörbare Form seiner Gegenwart ein, dies aufgrund seiner Teilhabe an der königlichen Macht Gottes. Gerade ihnen, den Jüngern, ermutigt durch die Kraft des Heiligen Geistes, wird es zukommen, seine Gegenwart durch das Zeugnis, die Verkündigung und den missionarischen Einsatz wahrnehmbar zu machen.
Das Hochfest der Himmelfahrt des Herrn sollte auch uns mit Freude und Begeisterung erfüllen, gerade wie es den Aposteln geschah, die vom Ölberg »in großer Freude« aufbrachen. Wie sie sollen auch wir die Einladung der »zwei Männer in weißen Gewändern« annehmen und nicht dastehen und zum Himmel emporschauen; unter der Leitung des Heiligen Geistes müssen wir vielmehr überall hingehen und die heilbringende Botschaft vom Tod und von der Auferstehung Christi verkünden. Es begleiten uns und gereichen uns zum Trost dessen eigene Worte, mit denen das Evangelium nach Matthäus schließt: »Seid gewiß: Ich bin bei euch alle Tage bis zum Ende der Welt« (Mt 28,20).
Liebe Brüder und Schwestern, der historische Charakter der Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Christi hilft uns, das transzendente und eschatologische Sein der Kirche zu erkennen und zu begreifen; sie ist nicht entstanden und sie lebt nicht, um ein Ersatz für die Abwesenheit ihres »entschwundenen« Herrn zu sein, sondern sie findet vielmehr den Grund ihres Seins und ihrer Sendung in der unsichtbaren Gegenwart Jesu, der mit der Macht seines Geistes wirkt.
Mit anderen Worten könnten wir sagen, dass die Kirche nicht die Aufgabe erfüllt, die Wiederkehr eines »abwesenden« Jesus vorzubereiten; sie lebt und wirkt dagegen vielmehr, um seine »glorreiche Gegenwart« auf eine geschichtliche und existentielle Weise zu verkünden. Seit dem Tag der Himmelfahrt schreitet jede christliche Gemeinde auf ihrem irdischen Weg hin zur Erfüllung der messianischen Verheißungen, genährt vom Wort Gottes und gespeist vom Leib und Blut ihres Herrn. Das ist das Sein der Kirche – so erinnert das II. Vatikanische Konzil –, während sie »zwischen den Verfolgungen der Welt und den Tröstungen Gottes auf ihrem Pilgerweg [dahinschreitet] und […] das Kreuz und den Tod des Herrn [verkündet], bis er wiederkommt« (Lumen gentium, 8).
Copyright 2009 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Überschriften, Zwischenzitate und Zwischentitel sind redaktionelle Einfügungen
Cardinal Newman - Sermon 18. Mysteries in Religion Seasons - Ascension - "We are in a world of mystery, with one bright Light before us, sufficient for our proceeding forward through all difficulties".
Sermon 18. Mysteries in Religion Seasons - Ascension
"It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us." Rom. viii. 34.
{206} [Note 1] THE Ascension of our Lord and Saviour is an event ever to be commemorated with joy and thanksgiving, for St. Paul tells us in the text that He ascended to the right hand of God, and there makes intercession for us. Hence it is our comfort to know, that "if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins." [1 John ii. 1, 2.] As the Jewish High Priest, after the solemn sacrifice for the people on the great day of Atonement, went into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the victim, and sprinkled it upon the Mercy-Seat, so Christ has entered into Heaven itself, to present (as it were) before the Throne that sacred Tabernacle which was the instrument of His passion,—His pierced hands and wounded {207} side,—in token of the atonement which He has effected for the sins of the world.
Wonder and awe must always mingle with the thankfulness which the revealed dispensation of mercy raises in our minds. And this, indeed, is an additional cause of thankfulness, that Almighty God has disclosed to us enough of His high Providence to raise such sacred and reverent feelings. Had He merely told us that He had pardoned us, we should have had overabundant cause for blessing and praising Him; but in showing us somewhat of the means, in vouchsafing to tell what cannot wholly be told, in condescending to abase heavenly things to the weak and stammering tongues of earth, He has enlarged our gratitude, yet sobered it with fear. We are allowed with the Angels to obtain a glimpse of the mysteries of Heaven, "to rejoice with trembling." Therefore, so far from considering the Truths of the Gospel as a burden, because they are beyond our understanding, we shall rather welcome them and exult in them, nay, and feel an antecedent stirring of heart towards them, for the very reason that they are above us. Under these feelings I will attempt to suggest to you on the present Festival some of the incentives to wonder and awe, humility, implicit faith, and adoration, supplied by the Ascension of Christ.
1. First, Christ's Ascension to the right hand of God is marvellous, because it is a sure token that heaven is a certain fixed place, and not a mere state. That bodily presence of the Saviour which the Apostles handled is not here; it is elsewhere,—it is in heaven. This contradicts the notions of cultivated and speculative minds, {208} and humbles the reason. Philosophy considers it more rational to suppose that Almighty God, as being a Spirit, is in every place; and in no one place more than another. It would teach, if it dare, that heaven is a mere state of blessedness; but, to be consistent, it ought to go on to deny, with the ancient heretics, referred to by St. John, that "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh," and maintain that His presence on earth was a mere vision; for, certain it is, He who appeared on earth went up from the earth, and a cloud received Him out of His Apostles' sight. And here again an additional difficulty occurs, on minutely considering the subject. Whither did He go? beyond the sun? beyond the fixed stars? Did He traverse the immeasurable space which extends beyond them all? Again, what is meant by ascending? Philosophers will say there is no difference between down and up, as regards the sky; yet, whatever difficulties the word may occasion, we can hardly take upon us to decide that it is a mere popular expression, consistently with the reverence due to the Sacred Record.
And thus we are led on to consider, how different are the character and effect of the Scripture notices of the structure of the physical world, from those which philosophers deliver. I am not deciding whether or not the one and the other are reconcileable; I merely say their respective effect is different. And when we have deduced what we deduce by our reason from the study of visible nature, and then read what we read in His inspired word, and find the two apparently discordant, this is the feeling I think we ought to have on our {209} minds;—not an impatience to do what is beyond our powers, to weigh evidence, sum up, balance, decide, and reconcile, to arbitrate between the two voices of God,—but a sense of the utter nothingness of worms such as we are; of our plain and absolute incapacity to contemplate things as they really are; a perception of our emptiness, before the great Vision of God; of our "comeliness being turned into corruption, and our retaining no strength;" a conviction, that what is put before us, in nature or in grace, though true in such a full sense that we dare not tamper with it, yet is but an intimation useful for particular purposes, useful for practice, useful in its department, "until the day-break and the shadows flee away," useful in such a way that both the one and the other representation may at once be used, as two languages, as two separate approximations towards the Awful Unknown Truth, such as will not mislead us in their respective provinces. And thus while we use the language of science, without jealousy, for scientific purposes, we may confine it to these; and repel and reprove its upholders, should they attempt to exalt it and to "stretch it beyond its measure." In its own limited round it has its use, nay, may be made to fill a higher ministry, and stand as a proselyte under the shadow of the temple; but it must not dare profane the inner courts, in which the ladder of Angels is fixed for ever, reaching even to the Throne of God, and "Jesus standing on the right hand of God."
I will but remind you on this part of the subject, that our Lord is to come from heaven "in like manner" as He went; that He is to come "in clouds," that {210} "every eye shall see Him," and "all tribes of the earth wail because of Him." Attempt to solve this prediction, according to the received theories of science, and you will discover their shallowness. They are unequal to the depth of the problem.
2. I have made the foregoing remark in order to impress upon you the mystery with which we are encompassed all about, such as not merely to attach to one or two truths of religion, but extending to almost every sacred fact, and to every action of our lives. With the same view, let me observe upon the doctrine which accompanies the fact of the Ascension. Christ, we are told, has gone up on high "to present Himself before the face of God for us." He has "entered by His own blood once for all into the Holy Place, having effected eternal redemption." "He ever liveth to make intercession for those who come unto God by Him; He hath a priesthood which will not pass from Him." "We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a Minister of the Sanctuary, and of the true Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." [Heb. ix. 12, 24, 25; vii. 24, 25; viii. 1, 2.]
These and similar passages refer us to the rites of the Jewish law. They contain notice of the type, but what is the Antitype? We can give no precise account of it. For consider; why was it that Christ ascended on high? With what object? What is His work? What is the meaning of His interceding for us in heaven? We know that, whatever He does, it is the gracious reality of the Mosaic figure. The High Priest {211} entering with the atoning blood into the Holiest, was a representation of Christ's gracious deed in our behalf. But what is that deed? We know what the shadow is; what is the substance? The death of Christ answers to the Jewish rite of Atonement; how does He vouchsafe to fulfil the rite of Intercession? Instead of explaining, Scripture does but continue to answer us in the language of the type; even to the last it veils His deed under the ancient figure [Note 2]. Shall we therefore explain away its language as merely figurative, which (as the word is now commonly understood) is next to saying it has no meaning at all? Far from it. Clouds and darkness are round about Him. We are not given to see into the secret shrine in which God dwells. Before Him stand the Seraphim, veiling their faces. Christ is within the veil. We must not search curiously what is His present office, what is meant by His pleading His sacrifice, and by His perpetual intercession for us. And, since we do not know, we will studiously keep to the figure given us in Scripture: we will not attempt to interpret it, or change the wording of it, being wise above what is written. We will not neglect it, because we do not understand it. We will hold it as a Mystery, or (what was anciently called) a Truth Sacramental; that is, a high invisible grace lodged in an outward form, a precious possession to be piously and thankfully guarded for the sake of the heavenly reality contained in it. Thus much we see in it, the pledge of a doctrine which reason cannot understand, viz. of the influence {212} of the prayer of faith upon the Divine counsels. The Intercessor directs or stays the hand of the Unchangeable and Sovereign Governor of the World; being at once the meritorious cause and the earnest of the intercessory power of His brethren. "Christ rose again for our justification," "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much," are both infinite mercies, and deep mysteries.
3. Further still, consider our Saviour's words:—"It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you." He does not tell us, why it was that His absence was the condition of the Holy Spirit's presence. "If I depart," He says, "I will send Him unto you." "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever." [John xvi. 7; xiv. 16.] To the same purpose are the following texts: "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father." "If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father; for My Father is greater than I." "Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God." [John xiv. 12, 28; xx. 17.] Now, proud and curious reason might seek to know why He could not "pray the Father," without going to Him; why He must depart in order to send the Spirit. But faith, without asking for one ray of light more than is given, muses over the wonderful system of Providence, as seen {213} in this world, which is ever connecting events, between which man sees no necessary bond. The whole system of what is called cause and effect, is one of mystery; and this instance, if it may be called one, supplies abundant matter of praise and adoration to a pious mind. It suggests to us, equally with the topics which have already come before us, how very much our knowledge of God's ways is but on the surface. What are those deep hidden reasons why Christ went and the Spirit came? Marvellous and glorious, beyond our understanding! Let us worship in silence; meanwhile, let us jealously maintain this, and every other portion of our Creed, lest, by dropping jot or tittle, we suffer the truths concealed therein to escape from us.
Moreover, this departure of Christ, and coming of the Holy Ghost, leads our minds with great comfort to the thought of many lower dispensations of Providence towards us. He, who, according to His inscrutable will, sent first His Co-equal Son, and then His Eternal Spirit, acts with deep counsel, which we may surely trust, when He sends from place to place those earthly instruments which carry on His purposes. This is a thought which is particularly soothing as regards the loss of friends; or of especially gifted men, who seem in their day the earthly support of the Church. For what we know, their removal hence is as necessary for the furtherance of the very objects we have at heart, as was the departure of our Saviour.
Doubtless, "it is expedient" they should be taken away; otherwise some great mercy will not come to us. They are taken away perchance to other duties in {214} God's service, equally ministrative to the salvation of the elect, as earthly service. Christ went to intercede with the Father: we do not know, we may not boldly speculate,—yet, it may be, that Saints departed intercede, unknown to us, for the victory of the Truth upon earth; and their prayers above may be as really indispensable conditions of that victory, as the labours of those who remain among us. They are taken away for some purpose surely: their gifts are not lost to us; their soaring minds, the fire of their contemplations, the sanctity of their desires, the vigour of their faith, the sweetness and gentleness of their affections, were not given without an object. Yea, doubtless, they are keeping up the perpetual chant in the shrine above, praying and praising God day and night in His Temple, like Moses upon the Mount, while Joshua and his host fight with Amalek. Can they be allotted greater blessedness, than to have a station after the pattern of that Saviour who has departed hence? Has He no power in the world's movements because He is away? And though He is the Living and exalted Lord of all, and the government is on His shoulder, and they are but His servants, without strength of themselves, laid up moreover apart from the conflict of good and evil in the paradise of God, yet so much light as this is given us by the inspired pages of the Apocalypse, that they are interested in the fortunes of the Church. We read therein of the Martyrs crying with a loud voice, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" At another time, of the Elders {215} worshipping God, saying, "We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come, because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power and hast reigned; and the nations were wrathful, but Thy wrath is come." And again of the Saints, saying, "Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of Saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before Thee, for Thy judgments are made manifest." [Rev. vi. 10; xi. 17, 18; xv. 3, 4.] Let us not forget that, though the prophecies of this sacred book may be still sealed from us, yet the doctrines and precepts are not; and that we lose much both in the way of comfort and instruction, if we do not use it for the purposes of faith and obedience.
What has been now said about the Ascension of our Lord comes to this; that we are in a world of mystery, with one bright Light before us, sufficient for our proceeding forward through all difficulties. Take away this Light, and we are utterly wretched,—we know not where we are, how we are sustained, what will become of us, and of all that is dear to us, what we are to believe, and why we are in being. But with it we have all and abound. Not to mention the duty and wisdom of implicit faith in the love of Him who made and redeemed us, what is nobler, what is more elevating and transporting, than the generosity of heart which risks everything on God's word, dares the powers of evil to their worst efforts, and repels the {216} illusions of sense and the artifices of reason, by confidence in the Truth of Him who has ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high? What infinite mercy it is in Him, that He allows sinners such as we are, the privilege of acting the part of heroes rather than of penitents? Who are we "that we should be able" and have opportunity "to offer so willingly after this sort?" [1 Chron. xxix. 14.]—"Blessed," surely thrice blessed, "are they who have not seen, and yet have believed!" We will not wish for sight; we will enjoy our privilege; we will triumph in the leave given us to go forward, "not knowing whither we go," knowing that "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." [1 John v. 4.] It is enough that our Redeemer liveth; that He has been on earth and will come again. On Him we venture our all; we can bear thankfully to put ourselves into His hands, our interests present and eternal, and the interests of all we love. Christ has died, "yea rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from His love? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us." [Rom. viii. 34-37.]
Gebed van de Pinksternoveen - "Kom, heilige Geest!" - dagelijks tussen Hemelvaart en Pinksteren.
De Pinksternoveen is het kerkelijk gebed om de werking van de Heilige Geest, af te smeken gedurende de negendaagse periode tussen Hemelvaart en Pinksteren. De noveen ter ere van de Heilige Geest is het oudste van alle novenen. De Heer zelf stelde het in toen Hij zijn apostelen terug zond naar Jeruzalem om daar te wachten op de komst van de Heilige Geest op het eerste Pinksteren. Het begint daags na Hemelvaart en eindigt op Pinksteren. Het is een krachtig smeekgebed om de zeven gaven van de Heilige Geest.
Zie ook CKK 1830 en 1831
Dagelijks gebed:
Kom, Heilige Geest,
vervul de harten van uw gelovigen
en ontsteek in hen het vuur van uw liefde.
Zend uw Geest uit
en alles zal herschapen worden;
en Gij zult het aanschijn van de aarde vernieuwen.
Laat ons bidden:
God, Gij hebt de harten van uw gelovigen
door de verlichting van de Heilige Geest onderwezen;
geef, dat wij door die Heilige Geest
de ware wijsheid mogen bezitten
en ons altijd over zijn vertroosting verblijden.
Door Christus onze Heer.
Amen.
dinsdag 9 mei 2023
zondag 7 mei 2023
zaterdag 6 mei 2023
"Spread your wings - a crane song" - met veel plezier geplaatst!
maandag 1 mei 2023
zondag 23 april 2023
zaterdag 22 april 2023
Lezingen H. Mis 3e zondag van Pasen, jaar A - Daarom is uw geloof in God tevens hoop op God.
Eerste lezing: Hand. 2, 14. 22-32
Op de dag van Pinksteren trad Petrus naar voren met de elf
en verhief zijn stem
om het woord tot de menigte te richten:
“Gij allen, Joodse mannen en bewoners van Jeruzalem,
weet dit wel en luistert aandachtig naar mijn woorden.
Jezus de Nazoreeër was een man
wiens zending tot u van Godswege bekrachtigd is.
Gij kent immers zelf de machtige daden, wonderen en tekenen,
die God door Hem onder u heeft verricht:
Hem, die volgens Gods vastgestelde raadsbesluit en voorkennis
is uitgeleverd,
hebt gij door de hand van goddelozen
aan het kruis genageld en gedood.
Maar God heeft Hem ten leven gewekt,
na de strikken van de dood te hebben ontbonden;
want het was onmogelijk,
dat Hij daardoor werd vastgehouden.
Doelend op Hem toch zegt David:
De Heer had ik voor ogen, altijd door,
Hij is aan mijn rechterhand, opdat ik niet zou wankelen;
daarom is er blijdschap in mijn hart
en jubelt mijn mond van vreugde;
ja, ook mijn lichaam zal rust vinden in hoop,
omdat Gij mijn ziel niet zult overlaten aan het dodenrijk
en uw heiligen geen bederf laten zien.
Wegen ten leven hebt Gij mij doen kennen,
Gij zult mij met vreugde vervullen voor uw aanschijn.
Mannenbroeders,
ik mag wel vrijuit tot u zeggen van de aartsvader David
dat hij gestorven en begraven is;
we hebben immers zijn graf bij ons tot op deze dag.
Welnu,
omdat hij een profeet was,
en wist, dat God hem een eed gezworen had
dat Hij een van zijn nakomelingen op zijn troon zou doen zetelen,
zei hij met een blik in de toekomst
over de verrijzenis van Christus,
dat Hij niet is overgelaten aan de dodenrijk
en dat zijn lichaam het bederf niet heeft gezien.
Deze Jezus heeft God doen verrijzen
en daarvan zijn wij allen getuigen.”
Tweede lezing: 1 Petr. 1, 17-21
Dierbaren,
God die gij aanroept als Vader,
is ook de onpartijdige rechter over al onze daden;
koestert daarom ontzag voor Hem,
zolang gij hier in ballingschap leeft.
Gij weet dat gij niet met vergankelijke dingen,
zoals goud en zilver, zijt verlost uit het zinloze bestaan,
dat gij van uw vaderen had geërfd.
Gij zijt verlost door het kostbaar bloed van Christus,
het Lam zonder vlek of gebrek,
dat uitverkoren was vóór de grondlegging der wereld,
maar eerst op het einde der tijden is verschenen,
om uwentwil.
Door Hem gelooft gij in God,
die Hem van de doden opgewekt
en Hem de heerlijkheid gegeven heeft;
daarom is uw geloof in God tevens hoop op God.
Evangelie: Lc. 24, 13-35
In die tijd
waren er twee van de leerlingen van Jezus op weg naar een dorp
dat Emmaüs heette
en dat ruim elf kilometer van Jeruzalem lag.
Zij spraken met elkaar over alles wat was voorgevallen.
Terwijl zij zo aan het praten waren en van gedachten wisselden,
kwam Jezus zelf op hun toe
en Hij liep met hen mee.
Maar hun ogen werden verhinderd Hem te herkennen.
Hij vroeg hun:
“Wat is dat voor een gesprek, dat gij onderweg met elkaar voert?”
Met een bedrukt gezicht bleven zij staan.
Een van hen, die Kléopas heette, nam het woord en sprak tot Hem:
“Zijt Gij dan de enige vreemdeling in Jeruzalem,
dat Gij niet weet wat daar dezer dagen gebeurd is?”
Hij vroeg hun:
“Wat dan?”
Ze antwoordden Hem:
“Dat met Jezus, de Nazarener,
een man die profeet was,
machtig in daad en woord,
in het oog van God en van heel het volk;
hoe onze hogepriesters en overheidspersonen
Hem hebben overgeleverd
om Hem ter dood te laten veroordelen
en hoe zij Hem aan het kruis hebben geslagen.
En wij leefden in de hoop,
dat Hij degene zou zijn, die Israël ging verlossen!
Maar met dit al is het reeds de derde dag
sinds die dingen gebeurd zijn.
Wel hebben een paar vrouwen uit ons midden
ons in de war gebracht;
ze waren in de vroegte naar het graf geweest,
maar ze hadden zijn lichaam niet gevonden,
en ze kwamen zeggen
dat zij ook nog een verschijning van engelen hadden gehad,
die verklaarden dat Hij weer leefde.
Daarop zijn enkelen van de onzen naar het graf gegaan
en bevonden het zoals de vrouwen gezegd hadden,
maar Hem zagen zij niet.”
Nu sprak Hij tot hen:
“O onverstandigen,
die zo traag van hart zijt
in het geloof aan alles wat de profeten gezegd hebben!
Moest de Messias dat alles niet lijden
om in zijn glorie binnen te gaan?”
Beginnend met Mozes verklaarde Hij hun uit al de profeten
wat in al de Schriften op Hem betrekking had.
Zo kwamen ze bij het dorp waar ze heen gingen,
maar Hij deed alsof Hij verder moest gaan.
Zij drongen bij Hem aan:
“Blijf bij ons, want het wordt al avond en de dag loopt ten einde.”
Toen ging Hij binnen om bij hen te blijven.
Terwijl Hij met hen aanlag nam Hij brood,
sprak de zegen uit,
brak het en reikte het hun toe.
Nu gingen hun ogen open en zij herkenden Hem,
maar Hij verdween uit hun gezicht.
Toen zeiden ze tot elkaar:
“Brandde ons hart niet in ons,
zoals Hij onderweg met ons sprak en ons de Schriften ontsloot?”
Ze stonden onmiddellijk op en keerden naar Jeruzalem terug.
Daar vonden ze de elf met de mensen van hun groep bijeen.
Dezen verklaarden:
“De Heer is werkelijk verrezen,
Hij is aan Simon verschenen.”
En zij van hun kant vertelden wat er onderweg gebeurd was
en hoe Hij door hen herkend werd aan het breken van het brood.
vrijdag 21 april 2023
dinsdag 18 april 2023
What Is a Sacrament? Thomistic Institute - Efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church CCC 1131
maandag 17 april 2023
This Joyful Eastertide - King's College Cambridge.
zondag 16 april 2023
maandag 10 april 2023
zaterdag 8 april 2023
vrijdag 7 april 2023
Good Friday: Related meditation by St. Thomas Aquinas - If you seek an example, follow him
Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us? There was a great need, and it can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act.
It is a remedy, for, in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.
If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake.
If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. Therefore Christ’s patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame.
If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.
If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous.
If you seek an example of despising earthly things, follow him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Upon the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink.
Do not be attached, therefore, to clothing and riches, because they divided my garments among themselves. Nor to honors, for he experienced harsh words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on my head. Nor to anything delightful, for in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
(Exposition 6 on "Credo in Deum")
Vindplaats: Thomistic Institute
HolyThursday - Sermon saint cardinal Newman - Love is the end, and faith the means.
On Holy Thursday, the Catholic Church remembers the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Holy Orders. On that same evening, Jesus gave a Mandatum Novum (new commandment). In the Middle Ages, this day became known as Maundy Thursday from the word, mandatum. St. John Henry Newman teaches us the relationship between Faith and Love in a sermon which bears this title.
He begins by citing St. Paul’s description of love from the second Letter to the Corinthians, and at once he makes note of a difficulty: “if love be such as St. Paul describes, it is not all virtues at once; and I answer, that in one sense it is all virtues at once, and therefore St. Paul cannot describe it more definitely, more restrictedly than he does.”
Immediately, Newman supplies the answer: love is the root of all holy dispositions and grows and blossoms into them: they are its parts; and when this is described, they (the virtues) of necessity are mentioned. Love is the material (so to speak) out of which all graces are made, the quality of mind which is the fruit of regeneration, and in which the Spirit dwells; according to St. John’s words, “Every one that loveth, is born of God;” … “he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.” [1 John iv. 7, 16.]
St. Newman proceeds to compare and contrast faith and love, these two important virtues. He provides an analogy between love and a seed that bears a plant:
“Love, then, is the seed of holiness, and grows into all excellences, not indeed destroying their peculiarities, but making them what they are. A weed has stalk, leaves, and flowers; so has a sweet-smelling plant; because the latter is sweet-smelling, it does not cease to have stalk, leaves, and flowers; but they are all pleasant, because they come of it.”
St. John Henry explains that all these parts of the plant arise from the soul: “In that soul one and all exist in love, though distinct from it; as stalk, leaves, and flowers are as distinct and entire in one plant as in another, yet vary in their quality, according to the plant’s nature.”
Aquinas had earlier taught that charity is the form of all the virtues. By this we can understand that charity gives the other virtues their perfection, or that without charity, those virtues are incomplete. Charity directs all the virtues to the last end (Summa Theologiae II-II, q 23, a 8).
Continuing with the analogy of a plant, Newman notes that love, not faith, is the root of a plant. To make his point he comments: “In our Lord’s parable of the Sower; in which we read of persons who, “when they hear, receive the word with joy,” yet having no “root,” [Luke viii. 13.] fall away. Now, receiving the word with joy, surely implies faith; faith, then, is certainly distinct from the root, for these persons receive with joy, yet have “no root.” However, Newman explains that both virtues work together; he calls love the end, and faith the means.
Newman had plenty of opportunities to practice charity. He displayed patience with the Oratorians with whom he lived, including one whom he thought did not understand him, and another who opposed him. He forgave the latter, Fr. Frederic Faber, and visited him in London when Faber was close to death. Newman exercised patience for years with the Archbishop of Dublin and Archbishop of Westminster in dealing with them over different matters. It was not always easy on him but the future saint persevered in love.
The Lord’s Mandatum Novum was termed “new’ regarding the measure with which we are to love others: “as I have loved you.” At Easter we wish to die with Christ and to rise with Him, in other words, to die to ourselves and live with Christ. Let us ask the Lord to send his Spirit upon us that we might live with his charity, to nourish the roots of our virtues.
“Faith is the first element of religion,” Newman notes, “and love, of holiness; and as holiness and religion are distinct, yet united, so are love and faith.” He urges to be like Samuel in the temple who is the type of love whereas Eli, the priest, is a type of faith. He writes: “Love then is the motion within us of the new spirit, the holy and renewed heart which God the Holy Ghost gives us.”
To love like Christ, we cannot love only those who love us and treat us well. We must be patient with those who are taxing or annoying; we must forgive those who injure us; we must wish well to those who mistreat us. In this way we will be loving as Christ did on the Cross when He prayed: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Consider if there is someone in your family whom you need to understand better or to forgive. Ask the Holy Spirit for a growth in charity that will make your heart more Christ-like.
Vindplaats: cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com
zondag 2 april 2023
Benedictus XVI - Palmsonntag Das große Portal, das uns in die Karwoche eintreten läßt
Der Palmsonntag ist das große Portal, das uns in die Karwoche eintreten läßt, in die Woche, in der Jesus, der Herr, dem Höhepunkt seines Erdenlebens entgegengeht. Er geht nach Jerusalem hinauf, um die Schrift zu erfüllen und ans Kreuz gehängt zu werden; es ist der Thron, von dem aus er auf ewig herrschen, die Menschheit aller Zeiten an sich ziehen und allen das Geschenk der Erlösung anbieten wird. Aus den Evangelien wissen wir, daß Jesus sich gemeinsam mit den Zwölf auf den Weg nach Jerusalem gemacht hatte und daß sich ihnen nach und nach eine immer größer werdende Schar von Pilgern angeschlossen hatte. (…)
„Hosanna! Gesegnet sei er, der kommt im Namen des Herrn! Gesegnet sei das Reich unseres Vaters David, das nun kommt. Hosanna in der Höhe!“ (V. 9-10). Diese von allen vier Evangelisten überlieferte freudige Akklamation ist ein Segensruf, ein jubelndes Loblied: Es drückt die einmütige Überzeugung aus, daß Gott in Jesus sein Volk besucht hat und daß endlich der ersehnte Messias gekommen ist. Und alle sind dort in zunehmender Erwartung des Werkes, das Jesus vollbringen wird, wenn er in die Stadt eingezogen ist.
Doch was ist der Inhalt, der tiefste Widerhall dieses Jubelrufs? Die Antwort erhalten wir aus der gesamten Heiligen Schrift, die uns daran erinnert, daß der Messias die Segens-Verheißung Gottes zur Erfüllung bringt, die ursprüngliche Verheißung, die Gott dem Abraham, dem Vater aller Glaubenden, gemacht hatte: „Ich werde dich zu einem großen Volk machen und dich segnen… Durch dich sollen alle Geschlechter der Erde Segen erlangen“ (Gen 12,2-3). Es ist die Verheißung, die Israel im Gebet immer lebendig gehalten hatte, besonders im Psalmengebet. Darum ist derjenige, der von der Menge als der Gesegnete bejubelt wird, zugleich der, durch den die gesamte Menschheit Segen erlangen wird. So erkennt sich im Licht Christi die Menschheit zutiefst geeint und gleichsam in den Mantel des göttlichen Segens eingehüllt, eines Segens, der alles durchdringt, alles trägt, alles erlöst, alles heiligt.
Entnommen aus: Predigt Benedikts XVI. am Palmsonntag 2012
Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Vindplaats: www.benedictuszvi.org
donderdag 30 maart 2023
Fastenzeit Inspiration Benedictus XVI - So werden Solidarität und Gerechtigkeit wie auch Barmherzigkeit und Mitgefühl ganz natürlich aus unserem Herzen hervorströmen.
Auch heute ertönt nachdrücklich die Stimme des Herrn, der jeden von uns dazu aufruft, sich seines Nächsten anzunehmen. Auch heute fordert Gott von uns, „Hüter“ unserer Brüder und Schwestern zu sein (vgl. Gen 4,9), Beziehungen zu schaffen, die von gegenseitiger Fürsorge geprägt sind, von der Aufmerksamkeit für das Wohl des anderen und für dessen gesamtes Wohl. Das große Gebot der Nächstenliebe verlangt und drängt dazu, sich der eigenen Verantwortung gegenüber dem bewußt zu sein, der wie ich Geschöpf und Kind Gottes ist: Die Tatsache, daß wir als Menschen und vielfach auch im Glauben Brüder und Schwestern sind, muß dazu führen, daß wir im Mitmenschen ein wahres Alter Ego erkennen, das vom Herrn unendlich geliebt wird. Pflegen wir diesen brüderlichen Blick, so werden Solidarität und Gerechtigkeit wie auch Barmherzigkeit und Mitgefühl ganz natürlich aus unserem Herzen hervorströmen.
Der Diener Gottes Papst Paul VI. sagte, die Welt leide heute vor allem an einem Mangel an Brüderlichkeit: „Die Welt ist krank. Das Übel liegt jedoch weniger darin, daß die Hilfsquellen versiegt sind oder daß einige wenige alles abschöpfen. Es liegt im Fehlen der brüderlichen Bande unter den Menschen und unter den Völkern“ (Enzyklika Populorum Progressio [26. März 1967], Nr. 66).
Entnommen aus: Botschaft von Benedikt XVI. zur Fastenzeit 2012
Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Vindplaats benedictusxvi.org
maandag 20 maart 2023
zondag 19 maart 2023
Paus Benedictus XVI 4e Zondag Vastentijd - Wieder die göttliche Gerechtigkeit feiern, die voll ist von Nächstenliebe.
Gerade durch diese Erfahrung gestärkt wird der Christ dazu angetrieben, eine gerechte Gesellschaft zu schaffen, in der alle das Notwendige erhalten, um menschenwürdig leben zu können, und in der die Gerechtigkeit aus der Liebe lebt.
Die Fastenzeit gipfelt im Triduum Sacrum, an dem wir auch in diesem Jahr wieder die göttliche Gerechtigkeit feiern, die voll ist von Nächstenliebe, Zuwendung und Rettung. Möge diese Zeit der Buße für alle Christen eine Zeit wahrer Umkehr und intensiver Erkenntnis des Geheimnisses Christi sein, der gekommen ist, um die Gerechtigkeit zu vollenden.
Vindplaats benedictusxvi.org
Entnommen aus: Botschaft von Papst Benedikt XVI für die Fastenzeit 2010
Copyright 2009 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
zaterdag 18 maart 2023
dinsdag 14 maart 2023
maandag 13 maart 2023
zondag 12 maart 2023
Quadragesima Sunday III | The Third Sunday in Lent ~ Dom Prosper Guéranger - "The Church is putting within your reach those grand means of victory, – Fasting, Prayer, and Almsdeeds".
The holy Church gave us, as the subject of our meditation for the first Sunday of Lent, the Temptation which our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to suffer in the Desert. Her object was to enlighten us with regard to our own temptations, and teach us how to conquer them. To-day, she wishes to complete her instruction on the power and stratagems of our invisible enemies; and for this she reads to us a passage from the Gospel of St. Luke. During Lent, the Christian ought to repair the past, and provide for the future; but he can neither understand how it was he fell, nor defend himself against a relapse, unless he have correct ideas as to the nature of the dangers which have hitherto proved fatal, and are again threatening him. Hence, the ancient Liturgists would have us consider it as a proof of the maternal watchfulness of the Church, that she should have again proposed such a subject to us. As we shall find, it is the basis of all to-day’s instructions.
Assuredly, we should be the blindest and most unhappy of men, if, – surrounded as we are by enemies, who unceasingly seek to destroy us, and are so superior to us both in power and knowledge, – we were seldom or never to think of the existence of these wicked spirits. And yet, such is really the case with innumerable Christians now-a-days; for, truths are diminished from among the children of men [Ps. xi. 2].
So common, indeed, is this heedlessness and forgetfulness of truth, which the Holy Scriptures put before us in almost every page, that it is no rare thing to meet with persons who ridicule the idea of Devils being permitted to be on this earth of ours! They call it a prejudice, a popular superstition, of the Middle-Ages! Of course they deny that it is a dogma of Faith. When we read the History of the Church or the Lives of the Saints, they have their own way of explaining whatever is there related on this subject. To hear them talk, one would suppose that they look upon Satan as a mere abstract idea, to be taken as the personification of evil.
When they would account for the origin of their own or others’ sins, they explain all by the evil inclination of man’s heart, and by the bad use we make of our free-will. They never think of what we are taught by Christian doctrine; namely, that we are also instigated to sin by a wicked being, whose power is as great as is the hatred he bears us. And yet, they know, they believe, with a firm faith, that Satan conversed with our First Parents, and persuaded them to commit sin, and showed himself to them under the form of a serpent. They believe, that this same Satan dared to tempt the Incarnate Son of God, and that he carried him through the air, and set him first upon a pinnacle of the Temple, and then upon a very high mountain. Again; they read in the Gospel, and they believe, that one of the Possessed, who were delivered by our Saviour, was tormented by a whole legion of devils, who, upon being driven out of the man, went, by Jesus’ permission, into a herd of swine, and the whole herd ran violently into the sea of Genesareth, and perished in the waters. These, and many other such like facts, are believed, by the persons of whom we speak, with all the earnestness of faith; yet, notwithstanding, they treat as a figure of speech, or a fiction, all they hear or read about the existence, the actions, or the craft of these wicked spirits. Are such people Christians, or have they lost their senses? One would scarcely have expected that this species of incredulity could have found its way into an age like this, when sacrilegious consultations of the devil have been, we might almost say, – fashionable. Means, which were used in the days of paganism, have been resorted to for such consultations; and they who employed them seemed to forget, or ignore, that they were committing what God in the Old Law, punished with death, and which, for many centuries, was considered by all Christian nations as a capital crime.
But if there be one Season of the Year more than another in which the Faithful ought to reflect upon what is taught us both by faith and experience, as to the existence and workings of the wicked spirits, – it is undoubtedly this of Lent, when it is our duty to consider what have been the causes of our last sins, what are the spiritual dangers we have to fear for the future, and what means we should have recourse to for preventing a relapse. Let us, then, hearken to the Holy Gospel. Firstly, we are told, that the devil had possessed a man, and that the effect produced by this possession was dumbness. Our Saviour casts out the devil, and, immediately, the dumb man spoke. So that, the being possessed by the devil is not only a fact which testifies to God’s impenetrable justice; it is one which may produce physical effects upon them that are thus tried or punished. The casting out the devil restores the use of speech to him that had been possessed. We say nothing about the obstinate malice of Jesus’ enemies, who would have it, that his power over the devils, came from his being in league with the prince of devils:– all we would now do is, to show that the wicked spirits are sometimes permitted to have power over the body, and to refute, by this passage from the Gospel, the rationalism of certain Christians. Let these learn, then, that the power of our spiritual enemies is an awful reality; and let them take heed not to lay themselves open to their worst attacks, by persisting in the disdainful haughtiness of their Reason.
Ever since the promulgation of the Gospel, the power of Satan over the human body has been restricted by the virtue of the Cross, at least in Christian countries; but this power resumes its sway as often as faith and the practice of Christian piety lose their influence. And here we have the origin of all those diabolical practices, which, under certain scientific names, are attempted first in secret, and then are countenanced by being assisted at by well-meaning Christians. Were it not that God and his Church intervene, such practices as these would subvert society. Christians! remember baptismal vow! you have renounced Satan: take care, then, that by a culpable ignorance you are not dragged into apostacy. It is not a phantom that you renounced at the Font; he is a real and formidable being, who, as our Lord tells us, was a murderer from the beginning [St. John, viii. 44].
But, if we ought to dread the power he may be permitted to have over our bodies; if we ought to shun all intercourse with him, and take no share in practices over which he presides, and which are the worship he would have men give him; – we ought, also, to fear the influence he is ever striving to exercise over our souls. See, what God’s grace has had to do in order to drive him from our soul! During this holy season, the Church is putting within your reach those grand means of victory, – Fasting, Prayer, and Almsdeeds. Tue sweets of peace will soon be yours, and, once more, you will become God’s temple, for both soul and body will have regained their purity. But be not deceived; your enemy is not slain. He is irritated; penance has driven him from you; but he has sworn to return. Therefore, fear a relapse into mortal sin; and in order to nourish within you this wholesome fear, meditate upon the concluding part of our Gospel.
Our Saviour tells its, that when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water. There he writhes under his humiliation; it has added to the tortures of the hell he carries everywhere with him and to which he fain would give some alleviation, by destroying souls that have been redeemed by Christ. We read in the Old Testament that, sometimes, when the devils have been conquered, they have been forced to flee into some far-off wilderness: for example. the holy Archangel Raphael took the devil, that had killed Sara’s husbands, and bound him in the desert of Upper Egypt [Tob. viii. 3]. But the enemy of mankind never despairs of regaining his prey. His hatred is as active now, as it was at the very beginning of the world, and he says: I will return into my house, whence I came out. Nor will he come alone. He is determined to conquer; and therefore he will, if he think it needed, take with him seven other spirits, even more wicked than himself. What a terrible assault is this that is being prepared for the poor soul, unless she be on the watch, and unless the peace, which God has granted her, be one that is well armed for war! Alas! with many souls the very contrary is the case and our Saviour describes the situation in which the devils finds them on his return: they are swept and garnished, and that is all! No precautions, no defence, no arms. One would suppose that they were waiting to give the enemy admission. Then Satan, to make his re-possession sure, comes with a seven-fold force. The attack is made;- but, there is no resistance, and straightways the wicked spirits entering in, dwell there; so that, the last state becometh worse than the first; for before, there was but one enemy, – and now there are many.
In order that we may understand the full force of the warning conveyed to us by the Church in this Gospel, we must keep before us the great reality, that this is the acceptable time. In every part of the world, there are conversions being wrought; millions are being reconciled with God; divine Mercy is lavish of pardon to all that seek it. But, will all persevere? They that are now being delivered from the power of Satan, – will they all be free from his yoke, when next year’s Lent comes round? A sad experience tells the Church, that she may not hope so grand a result. Many will return to their sins, and that too before many weeks are over. And if the Justice of God overtake them in that state – what an awful thing it is to say it, yet it is true, – some, perhaps many, of these sinners will be eternally lost! Let us, then, be on our guard against a relapse; and in order that we may ensure our Perseverance, without which it would have been to little purpose to have been for a few days in God’s grace, – let us watch, and pray; let us keep ourselves under arms; let us ever remember that our whole life is to be a warfare. Our soldier-like attitude will disconcert the enemy, and he will try to gain victory elsewhere.
Tue Third Sunday of Lent is called Oculi, from the first word of the Introit. In the primitive Church, it was called Scrutiny-Sunday, because it was on this day that they began to examine the Catechumens, who were to he admitted to Baptism on Easter night. All the Faithful were invited to assemble in the Church, in order that they might bear testimony to the good life and morals of the candidates. At Rome, these examinations, which where called the Scrutinies, were made on seven different occasions, on account of the great number of the aspirants to Baptism; but the principal Scrutiny was that held on the Wednesday of the Fourth Week We will speak of it later on.
The Roman Sacramentary of St. Gelasius gives us the form, in which the Faithful were convoked to these assemblies. It is as follows. “Dearly beloved Brethren: you know that the day of Scrutiny, when our elect are to receive the holy instruction, is at hand. We invite you, therefore, to be zealous and assemble on N., (here, the day was mentioned,) at the hour of Sext; that so we may be able, by the divine aid, to achieve without error, the heavenly mystery, whereby is opened the gate of the kingdom of heaven, and the devil is excluded with all his pomps.” The invitation was repeated, if needed, on each of the following Sundays. The Scrutiny of this Sunday ended in the admission of a certain number of candidates: their names were written down, and put on the Diptychs of the Altar, that they might be mentioned in the Canon of the Mass. The same also was done with the names of their Sponsors.
The Station was, and still is, in the Basilica of Saint Laurence outside the walls. The name of this, the most celebrated of the Martyrs of Rome, would remind the Catechumens, that the Faith they were about to profess, would require them to be ready for many sacrifices.
Vindplaats: The Old Roman
donderdag 9 maart 2023
zaterdag 4 maart 2023
Paus Benedictus XVI Tweede zondag Veertigdagentijd - Im Geist erneuert den österlichen Festen entgegen gehen.
Ist nicht etwa das ganze Evangelium in dem einen Gebot der Liebe zusammengefasst? Die Praxis des Almosens in der Fastenzeit wird also zu einem Mittel, in unserer christlichen Berufung voranzuschreiten. Wenn der Christ sich hingibt ohne zu zählen, bezeugt er: Nicht der materielle Reichtum diktiert die Gesetze der Existenz, sondern die Liebe. Was dem Almosen seinen Wert gibt, ist je nach den Möglichkeiten und Umständen des einzelnen die Liebe, die zu verschiedenen Formen der Hingabe inspiriert.
Die Vorbereitung auf Ostern lädt uns auch durch das Almosengeben zu einer geistlichen Schulung ein, damit wir in der Liebe wachsen und Christus selbst in den Armen erkennen. In der Apostelgeschichte wird berichtet, was der Apostel Petrus zum Gelähmten sagt, der am Tor des Tempels um Almosen bittet: „Silber und Gold besitze ich nicht. Doch was ich habe, das gebe ich dir: Im Namen Jesu Christi, des Nazoräers, geh umher“ (Apg 3,6).
Mit dem Almosen schenken wir etwas Materielles; es kann ein Zeichen der größeren Gabe sein, die wir anderen mit Wort und Zeugnis von Christus geben, in dessen Namen das wahre Leben ist. Diese Zeit nötigt uns daher durch persönliche und gemeinschaftliche Anstrengung, Christus anzuhangen und seine Liebe zu bezeugen.
Maria, die Mutter und treue Magd des Herrn, helfe den Gläubigen in ihrem „geistlichen Kampf“ der Fastenzeit, die Waffen des Gebetes, des Fastens und des Almosengebens recht zu nutzen. Im Geist erneuert gehen wir dann den österlichen Festen entgegen.
Entnommen aus: Botschaft von Papst Benedikt XVI. für die Fastenzeit 2008
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zondag 26 februari 2023
Attende Domine et Miserere
zaterdag 25 februari 2023
woensdag 22 februari 2023
Aschermittwoch - Begin van de Veertigdagentijd Das Leben des Christen ist Glaubensleben.
Aschermittwoch, 22. Februar 2023
Heute beginnt mit der Aschermittwochsliturgie der Weg der vierzigtägigen Fastenzeit, der uns zum österlichen Triduum führen wird, dem Gedenken an das Leiden, den Tod und die Auferstehung des Herrn, Herzstück des Geheimnisses unserer Erlösung. Das ist eine Zeit der Gnade, in der die Kirche die Christen dazu einlädt, sich das Erlösungswerk Christi lebendiger bewußt zu machen und die eigene Taufe mit größerer Tiefe zu leben. In dieser liturgischen Zeit nährt sich in der Tat das Volk Gottes schon seit den Anfängen reichlich vom Wort Gottes, um im Glauben zu erstarken, indem es die ganze Geschichte der Schöpfung und der Erlösung durchläuft.
In ihrer vierzigtägigen Dauer besitzt die Fastenzeit eine unverkennbare sinnfällige Kraft. Sie will nämlich an einige Ereignisse erinnern, die das Leben und die Geschichte des alten Israel geprägt haben, indem sie auch uns wieder auf deren paradigmatischen Wert hinweist: Denken wir zum Beispiel an die vierzig Tage der Sintflut, die in dem von Gott mit Noach und so mit der Menschheit besiegelten Bundesschluß endeten, und an den vierzigtägigen Aufenthalt des Mose auf dem Berg Sinai, worauf die Gabe der Gesetzestafeln folgte. Die Fastenzeit will uns vor allem dazu einladen, mit Jesus die vierzig Tage wieder zu erleben, die er betend und fastend in der Wüste verbrachte, bevor er sein öffentliches Wirken begann. Auch wir beginnen am heutigen Tag, zusammen mit allen Christen der Welt, einen Weg der Reflexion und des Gebets, um geistig zum Kalvarienberg aufzubrechen, während wir die zentralen Geheimnisse des Glaubens betrachten. Auf diese Weise werden wir uns darauf vorbereiten, nach dem Geheimnis des Kreuzes die Osterfreude der Auferstehung zu erfahren.
In allen Pfarrgemeinden vollzieht man heute eine ernste und symbolische Handlung: die Auflegung der Asche; und dieser Ritus wird von zwei bedeutungsreichen Formeln begleitet, die einen eindringlichen Appell darstellen, sich als Sünder zu erkennen und zu Gott zurückzukehren. Die erste Formel lautet: »Bedenke, Mensch, daß du Staub bist und wieder zum Staub zurückkehren wirst« (vgl. Gen 3,19). Diese Worte aus dem Buch Genesis rufen den menschlichen Zustand in Erinnerung, der unter dem Zeichen der Vergänglichkeit und der Begrenzung steht, und wollen uns dazu führen, alle Hoffnung allein auf Gott zu setzen. Die zweite Formel bezieht sich auf die Worte Jesu zu Beginn seiner öffentlichen Wirkens: »Kehrt um, und glaubt an das Evangelium« (Mk 1,15). Das ist eine Aufforderung dazu, das entschiedene und vertrauensvolle Festhalten am Evangelium zum Fundament der persönlichen und gemeinschaftlichen Erneuerung zu machen.
Das Leben des Christen ist Glaubensleben, das auf das Wort Gottes gegründet ist und von ihm genährt wird. In den Prüfungen des Lebens und in jeder Versuchung besteht das Geheimnis des Sieges darin, auf das Wort der Wahrheit zu hören und die Lüge und das Böse entschieden zurückzuweisen. Das ist das eigentliche und zentrale Programm der Fastenzeit: auf das Wort der Wahrheit hören, die Wahrheit leben, sprechen und tun, die Lüge, die die Menschheit vergiftet und das Einfallstor für alle Übel ist, zurückweisen. Es ist daher dringend notwendig, in diesen vierzig Tagen wieder das Evangelium zu hören, das Wort des Herrn, das Wort der Wahrheit, damit in jedem Christen, in jedem von uns, das Bewußtsein der Wahrheit gestärkt werde, die ihm geschenkt wird, die uns geschenkt wird, damit er sie lebe und ihr Zeuge werde. Die Fastenzeit spornt uns dazu an, unser Leben vom Wort Gottes durchdringen zu lassen und so die grundlegende Wahrheit kennenzulernen, nämlich: wer wir sind, woher wir kommen, wohin wir gehen müssen, welches der Weg ist, den wir im Leben einschlagen sollen.
Entnommen aus: Papst Benedikt XVI., Generalaudienz, 1. März 2006
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