Latin Prayers and their Translations

This site include a great number of Latin prayers and their English translations. I'm happy to see some of these that we don't use often in our daily lives. Take a look and hopefully they will enrich your life as well. Thanks to Soutenus for sharing these!

Indulgences

A lot of discussion has gone into what an indulgence really is. Of course, it is NOT buying a chicken bone said to be that of St. Peter (which may or may not have been a serious abuse in the Catholic Church in the middle ages.) Instead, it is the remittance of temporal punishment for sin, and it comes in two forms - plenary and partial. Take a look at this from EWTN. It might be the best discussion of such I have ever seen. It also is definitely not easy, because who can honestly say their heart is completely removed from all attachment or desire for sin?

Spirit of Ecumencism

In the spirit of ecumenicism, as we draw advent to a close, read this great story about a Protestant minister and member of Congress willing to stand up for moral values. It strengthens my feeling that all Christians need more than ever to unify under Christ.

Continuing the Absurd

Recently, my wife was taking photographs for a journal of a child who lives down the street from us. She was still pregnant at the time, and the girl asked her how many children she would like to have. Jokingly, she said "oh, about seven or eight". Her mother jumped into the conversation to say "Don't you care about the world's population?"

This attitude has been developing for some time in our world. The fight against the unborn is following the same trend, as contraception and abortion are not being seen as a way to control climate change and make the world "a better place". We have probably all heard of the monstrous abuses conducted in China in the name of population control, but as Catholic online reports, it seems to be spreading. It's time for us as Catholics to stand up to this kind of nonsense.

Sometimes Catholics will say that they don't need to hear about abortion because it isn't applicable to their lives, so it should be kept out of homilies. They ignore the fact that all of us, even if we aren't having abortions personally, have a responsibility to use our money, time, writing,prayer, and other resources to fight against abortion, contraception, and population control.

Grey Areas

Fr. Andrew spoke in his homily this morning about grey areas and the Church. Sometimes when we think about what constitutes a sin or how to live our lives, or what is a mortal sin, we see grey areas. We wonder "how far can I go with this without it being sin?" Fr. Andrew correctly pointed out in his homily this morning that God - through his Word, but even more so through the Church has been specific as to what is right and wrong - so if we are talking about sexual issues (contraception, homosexuality, sex before marriage, etc.), life issues (abortion, euthanasia, etc.), or even the 10 commandments, the Church clearly defines right and wrong. Grey areas are things that we manufacture, many times in order to avoid responsibility for doing right when it seems burdensome or the cross seems too heavy.

I thought it was a very good homily. Now if only we could figure out one spelling for grey (gray) in English...

News of the Bizarre

Catholic Online reports that Barbara Boxer (obviously as nutty if not more so than Nancy Pelosi, but at least not Catholic) has compared abortion to Viagra. Well, Barbara, I will gladly give up my insurance discount for Viagra if you will give up insurance paying for abortion. I promise.

Happy Advent!

I hope everyone's Advent is going well! I had a few (well, technically two) thoughts and reflections today during our monthly Parish Catechesis.

Advent, is a time of waiting for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ - not only in the sense of commemoration of His physical birth on Earth in Bethlehem, but also symbolically of his Second Coming. Thus, it is a time of anxiety, of restlessness, of awaiting hope to come.

I feel that the Advent Wreath does a very good job of personifying this in the candles we light each week. Slowly the darkness peels away, until the crescendo builds to Christmas Day, when our Lord and Savior was born.







My second thought was regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today, we were read the Nativity Story, and told to attempt to personify ourselves as something present (I chose the perspective of the straw in the barn - but that's irrelevant). Our priest was remarking how all mothers could identify with Mary as a mother. This got me thinking about the anxiety our Blessed Mother must have felt throughout her pregnancy! I began to reflect on my own anxiety when preparing for my first baby - all of the shopping, decorating, and doctor appointments. However, I did not have to even consider, or try to understand, that I would be giving birth to the Savior of the World! How brave Mary was, and how much strength she must have embodied. Can you imagine if you were told that the child in your womb was destined to be the President of the United States? Now consider the task and responsibility of Mary the Mother of God!

Oh Blessed Mother Mary, pray for us.