Sancta Liturgia

“As a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.” The Sacred Scriptures and the Church Fathers, following the Sacred Scriptures, find no better imagery to express the ...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2016/01/second-sunday-in-ordinary-time-2016.html

In order to understand Baptism as a sacrament, and a necessary one at that, we must reflect upon the meaning of the Lord’s baptism. The ancient fathers of the Church are all in agreement. St. A...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-baptism-of-lord-2016.html

Today we recall with unfeigned joy the moment of Christ’s birth. Christmas. The Mass of Christ. There are three perspectives on Christmas. The first perspective is the one long taken by the wor...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/12/christmas-2015.html

“Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart!” “Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel!�...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/12/third-sunday-of-advent-2015.html

Now we come to the last Sunday of the liturgical year: the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This is not merely a metaphorical title. The Lord Jesus is King; he is robed i...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/11/solemnity-of-our-lord-jesus-christ-king.html

“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.” The Church has us listen to this Gospel at the end of our liturgical year. Next Sunday we will c...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/11/thirty-second-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html

Our motives and intentions are hidden from others. But the value of our deeds depends upon them. While they may be hidden from the eyes of men, they are not hidden from God, who knows the heart. ...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/11/our-motives-and-intentions-are-hidden.html

We celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints today. It is reminder that the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, is composed not just of the members of the Church here on earth, but also of those who...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/11/solemnity-of-all-saints-2015.html

Jesus is the suffering servant. Through his suffering he justifies us. That means he takes away our sins and makes us holy. It is an odd thing to think that suffering can repay for sin. The latin...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/10/twenty-ninth-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” asked the rich young man. And Jesus replied, “You know the commandments: You shall not kill; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; Yo...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/10/28th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b.html

Jesus is the New Moses. Joshua came to Moses and asked him to stop Edad and Medad from prophesying. But Moses replies, “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!” Likewise, John sa...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/09/twenty-sixth-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html

Who is Jesus? The Son of God. The Messiah. The Lamb of God. Our Savior. But what do these answers mean? There is a dilemma within Christianity. We say things that we do not understand and pretend...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/09/twenty-fourth-sunday-in-ordinary-time.html

Our Gospel is often used by those who quote it in order to make the point that Jesus was focused on the interior, the heart, rather than the commandments. It’s not the rules that count. What ma...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/08/22nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b.html

When we say to the rest of the world that our God became man we seem foolish. When we say that he became man in order to die for our sake we seem even more foolish. But when we say that, on the d...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/08/20th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b.html

“Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” How are we to understand this saying? If someone will not recei...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/07/fifteenth-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b.html

God sent the Israelites a prophet. In fact, he sent many prophets. Sometimes they listened, sometimes they did not listen. The story of salvation history is not a story of a people earnestly seek...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/07/fourteenth-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year.html

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.” The just man sins seven tim...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/06/eleventh-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b.html

Jesus said to his apostles: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/05/most-holy-trinity-2015.html

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sin...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/05/pentecost-2015.html

"Love consists in this: not that we have loved God, rather in that He first loved us and sent us His Son, as a victim of expiation for our sins." I talk often about the liturgy and the importance...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/05/sixth-sunday-of-easter-year-b.html

We are sons of God in the only son: Jesus. The Holy Mass is the prayer of Christ to his Father. Jesus gave us his life in order to save us. And in this we have been redeemed so that we might rece...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/04/fourth-sunday-of-easter-year-b.html

The Gospel speaks to us of the experience of the apostles after the resurrection. First, Jesus says to them: "Peace be with you." Then, he shows them his wounds. After this, he opens their minds ...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/04/third-sunday-of-easter-year-b.html

I concelebrated yesterday the Byzantine Divine Liturgy. At the start of the Eucharist, the deacon says: Let us stand aright; let us stand with awe; let us be attentive to offer the holy Anaphora ...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/04/divine-mercy-sunday-2015.html

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Christ is risen! He is truly risen! This is the ancient Paschal greeting: Christos anesti! Alithos anesti! Christus surr...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/04/easter-sunday-2015.html

The prophet Jeremiah tells us about God’s promise to make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It is helpful to know that, before Jeremiah’s time, the nation of Isr...

http://sanctaliturgia.blogspot.com/2015/03/fifth-sunday-of-lent-year-b.html