I read a book by Cardinal Ratzinger two years ago, and I feel it gives a real insight into the present Pope, and the direction he would like our modern liturgy to go in. Here is a good article on the book
This weekend I am preaching on two very significant, if not the most significant Christians responsible for the spread of Christianity after the Ascension of Jesus. This weekend we celebrate the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul.
This weeks Gospel (Matt. 10:26-33) is about being sent to bring the good news. It is not a request, but a command. Jesus’ disciples resisted anyway. If we truly understand and celebrate and live the Eucharist, we understand Jesus’ command and realize that it is just what we do, if we are Christian. Here are two quotes from the 49th Eucharistic Congress that is going on in Quebec City this weekend that should help clarify what I mean when I say, “It is just what we do.”
The Canadian Catholic Bishops along with the Bishop’s from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Scotland, England &Wales, and the U.S. have just sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper encouraging him and the Leaders of the upcoming G8 Conference to deepen their commitments and actions to reduce global poverty and address global climate change:
One of the more popular videos on the Internet from the Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, City was from June 19th - Catechesis by the most Reverend Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Bishop of Imus, Philippines.
The opening words of this Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 9:36) remind me of the time when Jesus looked down into the old city of Jerusalem and wept: “When Jesus saw the crowd, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless….”
“If we are to live out the search for real hope in pluralistic, democratic societies, we need to recognise that not all people share our views or even our deepest convictions. Some people could be tempted to describe this as relativism but that would not be correct. We can recognise people’s differences without saying that our differences are unimportant. This is precisely why we need to have space in our societies for proper dialogue where nobody is prevented from expressing his or her convictions simply to conform to somebody’s idea of political correctness. True dialogue respects everybody’s integrity. Genuinely strong people have no fear of other people’s views, so they feel able to allow people of radically different convictions to speak freely. They are happy to hear what others have to say.” Read the full text
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