sobre el espiritu de la liturgia

INTRODUCTION TO THE SPIRIT OF THE LITURGY

[Italiano - Spagnolo]

A Conference for the Year of the Priest
Vatican City, January 6, 2010




by Msgr. Guido Marini,

Pontifical Master of Liturgical Ceremonies


I propose to focus on some topics connected to the spirit of the liturgy and reflect on them with you; indeed, I intend to broach a subject which would require me to say much. Not only because it is a demanding and complex task to talk about the spirit of the liturgy, but also because many important works treating this subject have already been written by authors of unquestionably high caliber in theology and the liturgy. I’m thinking of two people in particular among the many: Romano Guardini and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.

One the other hand, it is now all the more necessary to speak about the spirit of the liturgy, especially for us members of the sacred priesthood. Moreover, there is an urgent need to reaffirm the “authentic” spirit of the liturgy, such as it is present in the uninterrupted tradition of the Church, and attested, in continuity with the past, in the most recent Magisterial teachings: starting from the second Vatican council up to the present pontificate. I purposefully used the word continuity, a word very dear to our present Holy Father. He has made it the only authoritative criterion whereby one can correctly interpret the life of the Church, and more specifically, the conciliar documents, including all the proposed reforms contained in them. How could it be any different? Can one truly speak of a Church of the past and a Church of the future as if some historical break in the body of the Church had occurred? Could anyone say that the Bride of Christ had lived without the assistance of the Holy Spirit in a particular period of the past, so that its memory should be erased, purposefully forgotten?

Nevertheless at times it seems that some individuals are truly partisan to a way of thinking that is justly and properly defined as an ideology, or rather a preconceived notion applied to the history of the Church which has nothing to do with the true faith.

An example of the fruit produced by that misleading ideology is the recurrent distinction between the preconciliar and the post conciliar Church. Such a manner of speaking can be legitimate, but only on condition that two Churches are not understood by it: one, the pre Conciliar Church, that has nothing more to say or to give because it has been surpassed, and a second, the post conciliar church, a new reality born from the Council and, by its presumed spirit, not in continuity with its past. This manner of speaking and more so of thinking must not be our own. Apart from being incorrect, it is already superseded and outdated, perhaps understandable from a historical point of view, but nonetheless connected to a season in the church’s life by now concluded.

Does what we have discussed so far with respect to “continuity” have anything to do with the topic we have been asked to treat in this lecture? Yes, absolutely. The authentic spirit of the liturgy does not abide when it is not approached with serenity, leaving aside all polemics with respect to the recent or remote past. The liturgy cannot and must not be an opportunity for conflict between those who find good only in that which came before us, and those who, on the contrary, almost always find wrong in what came before. The only disposition which permits us to attain the authentic spirit of the liturgy, with joy and true spiritual relish, is to regard both the present and the past liturgy of the Church as one patrimony in continuous development. A spirit, accordingly, which we must receive from the Church and is not a fruit of our own making. A spirit, I add, which leads to what is essential in the liturgy, or, more precisely, to prayer inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, in whom Christ continues to become present for us today, to burst forth into our lives. Truly, the spirit of the liturgy is the liturgy of the Holy Spirit.

I will not pretend to plumb the depths of the proposed subject matter, nor to treat all the different aspects necessary for a panoramic and comprehensive understanding of the question. I will limit myself by discussing only a few elements essential to the liturgy, specifically with reference to the celebration of the Eucharist, such as the Church proposes them, and in the manner I have learned to deepen my knowledge of them these past two years in service to our Holy Father, Benedict XVI. He is an authentic master of the spirit of the liturgy, whether by his teaching, or by the example he gives in the celebration of the sacred rites.

If, during the course of these reflections on the essence of the liturgy, I will find myself taking note of some behaviours that I do not consider in complete harmony with the authentic spirit of the liturgy, I will do so only as a small contribution to making this spirit stand out all the more in all its beauty and truth.

1. The Sacred Liturgy, God’s great gift to the Church.

We are all well aware how the second Vatican Council dedicated the entirety of its first document to the liturgy: Sacrosanctum Concilium. It was labeled as the Constitution on the sacred liturgy.

I wish to underline the term sacred in its application to the liturgy, because of its importance. As a matter of fact, the council Fathers intended in this way to reinforce the sacred character of the liturgy.

What, then, do we mean by the sacred liturgy? The East would in this case speak of the divine dimension in the Liturgy, or, to be more precise, of that dimension which is not left to the arbitrary will of man, because it is a gift which comes from on high. It refers, in other words, to the mystery of salvation in Christ, entrusted to the Church in order to make it available in every moment and in every place by means of the objective nature of the liturgical and sacramental rites. This is a reality surpassing us, which is to be received as gift, and which must be allowed to transform us. Indeed, the second Vatican Council affirms: “...every liturgical celebration, because it is an action of Christ the priest and of His Body which is the Church, is a sacred action surpassing all others...” (Sacrosanctum concilium, n.7)

From this perspective it is not difficult to realise how far distant some modes of conduct are from the authentic spirit of the liturgy. In fact, some individuals have managed to upset the liturgy of the church in various ways under the pretext of a wrongly devised creativity. This was done on the grounds of adapting to the local situation and the needs of the community, thus appropriating the right to remove from, add to, or modify the liturgical rite in pursuit of subjective and emotional ends. For this, we priests are largely responsible.

For this reason, already back in 2001, the former Cardinal Ratzinger asserted: “There is need of, at the very least, of a new liturgical awareness that might put a stop to the tendency to treat the liturgy as if it were an object open to manipulation. We have reached the point where liturgical groups stitch together the Sunday liturgy on their own authority. The result is certainly the imaginative product of a group of able and skilled individuals. But in this way the space where one may encounter the “totally other” is reduced, in which the holy offers Himself as gift; what I come upon is only the skill of a group of people. It is then that we realise that we are looking for something else. It is too little, and at the same time, something different. The most important thing today is to acquire anew a respect for the liturgy, and an awareness that it is not open to manipulation. To learn once again to recognise in its nature a living creation that grows and has been given as gift, through which we participate in the heavenly liturgy. To renounce seeking in it our own self-realisation in order to see a gift instead. This, I believe, is of primary importance: to overcome the temptation of a despotic behaviour, which conceives the liturgy as an object, the property of man, and to re-awaken the interior sense of the holy.” (from ‘God and the World’; translation from the Italian)

To affirm, therefore, that the liturgy is sacred presupposes the fact that the liturgy does not exist subject to the sporadic modifications and arbitrary inventions of one individual or group. The liturgy is not a closed circle in which we decide to meet, perhaps to encourage one another, to feel we are the protagonists of some feast. The liturgy is God’s summons to his people to be in His presence; it is the advent of God among us; it is God encountering us in this world.

A certain adaptation to particular local situations is foreseen and rightly so. The Missal itself indicates where adaptations may be made in some of its sections, yet only in these and not arbitrarily in others. The reason for this is important and it is good to reassert it: the liturgy is a gift which precedes us, a precious treasure which has been delivered by the age-old prayer of the Church, the place in which the faith has found its form in time and its expression in prayer. It is not made available to us in order to be subjected to our personal interpretation; rather, the liturgy is made available so as to be fully at the disposal of all, yesterday just as today and also tomorrow. “Our time, too,” wrote Pope John Paul II in his Encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, “calls for a renewed awareness and appreciation of liturgical norms as a reflection of, and a witness to, the one universal Church made present in every celebration of the Eucharist.” (n. 52)

In the brilliant Encyclical Mediator Dei, which is so often quoted in the constitution on the sacred Liturgy, Pope Pius XII defines the liturgy as “...the public worship... the worship rendered by the Mystical Body of Christ in the entirety of its Head and members.” (n. 20) As if to say, among other things, that in the liturgy, the Church “officially” identifies herself in the mystery of her union with Christ as spouse, and where she “officially” reveals herself. What casual folly it is indeed, to claim for ourselves the right to change in a subjective way the holy signs which time has sifted, through which the Church speaks about herself, her identity and her faith!

The people of God has a right that can never be ignored, in virtue of which, all must be allowed to approach what is not merely the poor fruit of human effort, but the work of God, and precisely because it is God’s work, a saving font of new life.

I wish to prolong my reflection a moment longer on this point, which, I can testify, is very dear to the Holy Father, by sharing with you a passage from Sacramentum Caritatis, the Apostolic Exhortation of His Holiness, Benedict XVI, written after the Synod on the Holy Eucharist. “Emphasising the importance of the ars celebrandi,” the Holy Father writes, “also leads to an appreciation of the value of the liturgical norms... The eucharistic celebration is enhanced when priests and liturgical leaders are committed to making known the current liturgical texts and norms... Perhaps we take it for granted that our ecclesial communities already know and appreciate these resources, but this is not always the case. These texts contain riches which have preserved and expressed the faith and experience of the People of God over its two-thousand-year history.” (n. 40)

2. The orientation of liturgical prayer.

Over and above the changes which have characterised, during the course of time, the architecture of churches and the places where the liturgy takes place, one conviction has always remained clear within the Christian community, almost down to the present day. I am referring to praying facing east, a tradition which goes back to the origins of Christianity.

What is understood by “praying facing east”? It refers to the orientation of the praying heart towards Christ, from whom comes salvation, and to whom it is directed as in the beginning so at the end of history. The sun rises in the east, and the sun is a symbol of Christ, the light rising in the Orient. The messianic passage in the Benedictus canticle comes readily to mind: “Through the tender mercy of our God; * whereby the Orient from on high hath visited us”

Very reliable and recent studies have by now proven effectively that, in every age of its past, the Christian community has found the way to express even in the external and visible liturgical sign, this fundamental orientation for the life of faith. This is why we find churches built in such a way that the apse was turned to the east. When such an orientation of the sacred space was no longer possible, the Church had recourse to the Crucifix placed upon the altar, on which everyone could focus. In the same vein many apses were decorated with resplendent representations of the Lord. All were invited to contemplate these images during the celebration of the Eucharistic liturgy.

Without recourse to a detailed historical analysis of the development of Christian art, we would like to reaffirm that prayer facing east, more specifically, facing the Lord, is a characteristic expression of the authentic spirit of the liturgy. It is according to this sense that we are invited to turn our hearts to the Lord during the celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy, as the introductory dialogue to the Preface well reminds us. Sursum corda “Lift up your hearts,” exhorts the priest, and all respond: Habemus ad Dominum “We lift them up unto the Lord.” Now if such an orientation must always be adopted interiorly by the entire Christian community when it gathers in prayer, it should be possible to find this orientation expressed externally by means of signs as well. The external sign, moreover, cannot but be true, in such a way that through it the correct spiritual attitude is rendered visible.

Hence the reason for the proposal made by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, and presently reaffirmed during the course of his pontificate, to place the Crucifix on the center of the altar, in order that all, during the celebration of the liturgy, may concretely face and look upon Lord, in such a way as to orient also their prayer and hearts. Let us listen to the words of his Holiness, Benedict XVI, directly, who in the preface to the first book of his Complete Works, dedicated to the liturgy, writes the following: “The idea that the priest and people should stare at one another during prayer was born only in modern Christianity, and is completely alien to the ancient Church. The priest and people most certainly do not pray one to the other, but to the one Lord. Therefore, they stare in the same direction during prayer: either towards the east as a cosmic symbol of the Lord who comes, or, where this is not possible, towards the image of Christ in the apse, towards a crucifix, or simply towards the heavens, as our Lord Himself did in his priestly prayer the night before His Passion (John 17.1) In the meantime the proposal made by me at the end of the chapter treating this question in my work ‘The Spirit of the Liturgy’ is fortunately becoming more and more common: rather than proceeding with further transformations, simply to place the crucifix at the center of the altar, which both priest and the faithful can face and be lead in this way towards the Lord, whom everyone addresses in prayer together.” (trans. from the Italian.)

Let it not be said, moreover, that the image of our Lord crucified obstructs the sight of the faithful from that of the priest, for they are not to look to the celebrant at that point in the liturgy! They are to turn their gaze towards the Lord! In like manner, the presider of the celebration should also be able to turn towards the Lord. The crucifix does not obstruct our view; rather it expands our horizon to see the world of God; the crucifix brings us to meditate on the mystery; it introduces us to the heavens from where the only light capable of making sense of life on this earth comes. Our sight, in truth, would be blinded and obstructed were our eyes to remain fixed on those things that display only man and his works.

In this way one can come to understand why it is still possible today to celebrate the holy Mass upon the old altars, when the particular architectural and artistic features of our churches would advise it. Also in this, the Holy Father gives us an example when he celebrates the holy Eucharist at the ancient altar of the Sistine Chapel on the feast of the Baptism of our Lord.

In our time, the expression “celebrating facing the people” has entered our common vocabulary. If one’s intention in using this expression is to describe the location of the priest, who, due to the fact that today he often finds himself facing the congregation because of the placement of the altar, in this case such an expression is acceptable. Yet such an expression would be categorically unacceptable the moment it comes to express a theological proposition. Theologically speaking, the holy Mass, as a matter of fact, is always addressed to God through Christ our Lord, and it would be a grievous error to imagine that the principal orientation of the sacrificial action is the community. Such an orientation, therefore, of turning towards the Lord must animate the interior participation of each individual during the liturgy. It is likewise equally important that this orientation be quite visible in the liturgical sign as well.

3. Adoration and union with God.

Adoration is the recognition, filled with wonder, we could even say ecstatic, (because it makes us come out of ourselves and our small world) the recognition of the infinite might of God, of His incomprehensible majesty, and of His love without limit which he offers us absolutely gratuitously, of His omnipotent and provident Lordship. Consequently, adoration leads to the reunification of man and creation with God, to the abandonment of the state of separation, of apparent autonomy, to loss of self, which is, moreover, the only way of regaining oneself.

Before the ineffable beauty of God’s charity, which takes form in the mystery of the Incarnate Word, who for our sake has died and is risen, and which finds its sacramental manifestation in the liturgy, there is nothing left for us but to be left in adoration. “In the paschal event and the Eucharist which makes it present throughout the centuries,” affirms Pope John Paul II in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, “there is a truly enormous capacity which embraces all of history as the recipient of the grace of the redemption. This amazement should always fill the Church assembled for the celebration of the Eucharist.” (n.5)

“My Lord and my God,” we have been taught to say from childhood at the moment of the consecration. In such a way, borrowing the words of the apostle St. Thomas, we are led to adore the Lord, made present and living in the species of the holy Eucharist, uniting ourselves to Him, and recognising Him as our all. From there it becomes possible to resume our daily way, having found the correct order of life, the fundamental criterion whereby to live and to die.

Here is the reason why everything in the liturgical act, through the nobility, the beauty, and the harmony of the exterior sign, must be condusive to adoration, to union with God: this includes the music, the singing, the periods of silence, the manner of proclaiming the Word of the Lord, and the manner of praying, the gestures employed, the liturgical vestments and the sacred vessels and other furnishings, as well as the sacred edifice in its entirety. It is under this perspective that the decision of his Holiness, Benedict XVI, is to be taken into consideration, who, starting from the feast of Corpus Christi last year, has begun to distribute holy Communion to the kneeling faithful directly on the tongue. By the example of this action, the Holy Father invites us to render visible the proper attitude of adoration before the greatness of the mystery of the Eucharistic presence of our Lord. An attitude of adoration which must be fostered all the more when approaching the most holy Eucharist in the other forms permitted today.

I would like to cite once more another passage from the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis: “During the early phases of the reform, the inherent relationship between Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was not always perceived with sufficient clarity. For example, an objection that was widespread at the time argued that the eucharistic bread was given to us not to be looked at, but to be eaten. In the light of the Church's experience of prayer, however, this was seen to be a false dichotomy. As Saint Augustine put it: ‘nemo autem illam carnem manducat, nisi prius adoraverit; peccemus non adorando – no one eats that flesh without first adoring it; we should sin were we not to adore it.’ In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church's supreme act of adoration. Receiving the Eucharist means adoring him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy.” (n.66)

I think that, among others, the following passage from the text I just read should not go unnoticed: “[The Eucharistic celebration] is itself the Church's supreme act of adoration.” Thanks to the holy Eucharist, his Holiness, Benedict XVI, asserts once more: “The imagery of marriage between God and Israel is now realised in a way previously inconceivable: it had meant standing in God's presence, but now it becomes union with God through sharing in Jesus' self-gift, sharing in his body and blood.” (Deus Caritas est, n.13) For this reason, everything in the liturgy, and more specifically in the Eucharistic liturgy, must lead to adoration, everything in the unfolding of the rite must help one enter into the Church’s adoration of her Lord.

To consider the liturgy as locus for adoration, for union with God, does not mean to loose sight of the communal dimension in the liturgical celebration, even less to forget the imperative of charity toward one’s neighbour. On the contrary, only through a renewal of the adoration of God in Christ, which takes form in the liturgical act, will an authentic fraternal communion and a new story of charity and love arise, depending on that ability to wonder and act heroically, which only the grace of God can give to our poor hearts. The lives of the saints remind and teach us this. “Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives himself. I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to him only in union with all those who have become, or who will become, his own. Communion draws me out of myself towards him, and thus also towards unity with all Christians.” (Deus caritas est, n. 14)

4. Active Participation.

It was really the saints who have celebrated and lived the liturgical act by participating actively. Holiness, as the result of their lives, is the most beautiful testimony of a participation truthfully active in the liturgy of the Church.

Rightly, then, and by divine providence did the second Vatican Council insist so much on the necessity of promoting an authentic participation on the part of the faithful during the celebration of the holy mysteries, at the same time when it reminded the Church of the universal call to holiness. This authoritative direction from the council has been confirmed and proposed again and again by so many successive documents of the magisterium down to the present day.

Nevertheless, there has not always been a correct understanding of the concept of “active participation”, according to how the Church teaches it and exhorts the faithful to live it. To be sure, there is active participation when, during the course of the liturgical celebration, one fulfills his proper service; there is active participation too when one has a better comprehension of God’s word when it is heard or of the prayers when they are said; there is also active participation when one unites his own voice to that of the others in song....All this, however, would not signify a participation truthfully active if it did not lead to adoration of the mystery of salvation in Christ Jesus, who for our sake died and is risen. This is because only he who adores the mystery, welcoming it into his life, demonstrates that he has comprehended what is being celebrated, and so is truly participating in the grace of the liturgical act.

As confirmation and support for what has just been asserted, let us listen once again to the words of a passage by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, from his fundamental study “The Spirit of the Liturgy”: “What does this active participation come down to? What does it mean that we have to do? Unfortunately the word was very quickly misunderstood to mean something external, entailing a need for general activity, as if as many people as possible, as often as possible, should be visibly engaged in action. However, the word ‘part-icipation’ refers to a principal action in which everyone has a ‘part’...By the actio of the liturgy the sources mean the Eucharistic prayer. The real liturgical action, the true liturgical act, is the oratio....This oratio—the Eucharistic Prayer, the “Canon”—is really more than speech; it is actio in the highest sense of the word.” (pp. 171-2) Christ is made present in all of his salvific work, and for this reason the human actio becomes secondary and makes room for the divine actio, to God’s work.

Thus the true action which is carried out in the liturgy is the action of God Himself, his saving work in Christ, in which we participate. This is, among other things, the true novelty of the Christian liturgy with respect to every other act of worship: God Himself acts and accomplishes that which is essential, whilst man is called to open himself to the activity of God, in order to be left transformed. Consequently, the essential aspect of active participation is to overcome the difference between God’s act and our own, that we might become one with Christ. This is why, that I might stress what has been said up to now, it is not possible to participate without adoration. Let us listen to another passage from Sacrosanctum Concilium: “The Church, therefore, earnestly desires that Christ's faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration. They should be instructed by God's word and be nourished at the table of the Lord's body; they should give thanks to God; by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves; through Christ the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and with each other, so that finally God may be all in all.” (n. 48)

Compared to this, everything else is secondary. I am referring in particular to external actions, granted they be important and necessary, and foreseen above all during the Liturgy of the Word. I mention the external actions because, should they become the essential preoccupation and the liturgy is reduced to a generic act, in that case the authentic spirit of the liturgy has been misunderstood. It follows that an authentic education in the liturgy cannot consist simply in learning and practicing exterior actions, but in an introduction to the essential action, which is God’s own, the paschal mystery of Christ, whom we must allow to meet us, to involve us, to transform us. Let not the mere execution of external gestures be confused with the correct involvement of our bodies in the liturgical act. Without taking anything away from the meaning and importance of the external action which accompanies the interior act, the Liturgy demands a lot more from the human body. It requires, in fact, its total and renewed effort in the daily actions of this life. This is what the Holy Father, Benedict XVI calls “Eucharistic coherence”. Properly speaking, it is the timely and faithful exercise of such a coherence or consistency which is the most authentic expression of participation, even bodily, in the liturgical act, the salvific action of Christ.

I wish to discuss this point further. Are we truly certain that the promotion of an active participation consists in rendering everything to the greatest extent possible immediately comprehensible? May it not be the case that entering into God’s mystery might be facilitated and, sometimes, even better accompanied by that which touches principally the reasons of the heart? Is it not often the case that a disproportionate amount of space is given over to empty and trite speech, forgetting that both dialogue and silence belong in the liturgy, congregational singing and choral music, images, symbols, gestures? Do not, perhaps, also the Latin language, Gregorian chant, and sacred polyphony belong to this manifold language which conducts us to the center of the mystery?

5. Sacred or liturgical music.

There is no doubt that a discussion, in order to introduce itself authentically into the spirit of the liturgy, cannot pass over sacred or liturgical music in silence.

I will limit myself to a brief reflection in way of orienting the discussion. One might wonder why the Church by means of its documents, more or less recent, insists in indicating a certain type of music and singing as particularly consonant with the liturgical celebration. Already at the time of the Council of Trent the Church intervened in the cultural conflict developing at that time, reestablishing the norm whereby music conforming to the sacred text was of primary importance, limiting the use of instruments and pointing to a clear distinction between profane and sacred music. Sacred music, moreover, must never be understood as a purely subjective expression. It is anchored to the biblical or traditional texts which are to be sung during the course of the celebration. More recently, Pope Saint Pius X intervened in an analogous way, seeking to remove operatic singing from the liturgy and selecting Gregorian chant and polyphony from the time of the Catholic reformation as the standard for liturgical music, to be distinguished from religious music in general. The second Vatican Council did naught but reaffirm the same standard, so too the more recent magisterial documents.

Why does the Church insist on proposing certain forms as characteristic of sacred and liturgical music which make them distinct from all other forms of music? Why, also, do Gregorian chant and the classical sacred polyphony turn out to be the forms to be imitated, in light of which liturgical and even popular music should continue to be produced today?

The answer to these questions lies precisely in what we have sought to assert with regard to the spirit of the liturgy. It is properly those forms of music, in their holiness, their goodness, and their universality, which translate in notes, melodies and singing the authentic liturgical spirit: by leading to adoration of the mystery celebrated, by favouring an authentic and integral participation, by helping the listener to capture the sacred and thereby the essential primacy of God acting in Christ, and finally by permitting a musical development that is anchored in the life of the Church and the contemplation of its mystery.

Allow me to quote the then Cardinal Ratzinger one last time: “Gandhi highlights three vital spaces in the cosmos, and demonstrates how each one of them communicates even its own mode of being. Fish live in the sea and are silent. Terrestrial animals cry out, but the birds, whose vital space is the heavens, sing. Silence is proper to the sea, crying out to the earth, and singing to the heavens. Man, however, participates in all three: he bares within him the depth of the sea, the weight of the earth, and the height of the heavens; this is why all three modes of being belong to him: silence, crying out, and song. Today...we see that, devoid of transcendence, all that is left to man is to cry out, because he wishes to be only earth and seeks to turn into earth even the heavens and the depth of the sea. The true liturgy, the liturgy of the communion of saints, restores to him the fullness of his being. It teaches him anew how to be silent and how to sing, opening to him the profundity of the sea and teaching him how to fly, the nature of an angel; elevating his heart, it makes that song resonate in him once again which had in a way fallen asleep. In fact, we can even say that the true liturgy is recognisable especially when it frees us from the common way of living, and restores to us depth and height, silence and song. The true liturgy is recognisable by the fact that it is cosmic, not custom made for a group. It sings with the angels. It remains silent with the profound depth of the universe in waiting. And in this way it redeems the world.” (trans. from the Italian.)

At this point I would like to conclude the discussion. For some years now, several voices have been heard within Church circles talking about the necessity of a new liturgical renewal. Of a movement, in some ways analogous to the one which formed the basis for the reform promoted by the second Vatican Council, capable of operating a reform of the reform, or rather, one more step ahead in understanding the authentic spirit of the liturgy and of its celebration; its goal would be to carry on that providential reform of the liturgy that the conciliar Fathers had launched but has not always, in its practical implementation, found a timely and happy fulfillment.

There is no doubt that in this new liturgical renewal it is we priests who are to recover a decisive role. With the help of our Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of all priests, may this further development of the reform also be the fruit of our sincere love for the liturgy, in fidelity to the Church and the Holy Father.

Msgr. Guido Marini
Pontifical Master of Liturgical Ceremonies

interesante

http://secretummeummihi.blogspot.com/

segunda conferencia de la espiritualidad de la Misa en este caso el aspecto de contrición, la preparación antes de la Misa

Contrition and Penitential rite of the Mass
This is again the preparation regarding the commencement of the Mass by preparing ourselves to a fruitful participation in the Mass. Today’s topic is that of contrition and of course related to the Holy Liturgy of the Mass in which we want to meditate and make an effort to see with the grace of God the need of a good preparation before offering the sacrifice. The awareness of sin on the part of the priest and the faithful united with him is the main element that we need to consider. Firstly, the Mass is divided generally speaking into two parts:-cathequitical those readings preparing the cathecumens and the Mass of the faithful those who have been baptized. Saint Alphonsus Liguori makes a more detailed description and divides the Mass into six parts: -preparation for the sacrifice(foot at the altar).
• The Introit to the Credo inclusively.Cathecumens
• offertory and preface
• canon with the Pater Noster
• Deliver us Oh, Lord
Sixth and last part comprises under the form of thanksgiving for the rest of the Mass.
In the Liturgy of the Mass, the aspect of propitiation, contrition or impetration for our sins is recalled seven times-mainly in the first preparatory part for the sacrifice. The Ancient rite of the Mass starts with the prayers at the foot of the altar which begins the Mass with the priest orienting himself to the altar-the altar of his youth. The altar is of course the main focus of this preparation because we need to be cleansed in order to ascend to the “Holy of Holies”, the priest implores the help of God against the enemies who are laying snares for him, Immediately, there is a clear understanding that there are good and evil in this world. Since then the priest expressing the pain that he feels of seeing himself, as it were, rejected by the Lord, he begs him to assist him with his light, and to console him with the graces that he promised by leading him into his tabernacle. Finally, he reproaches himself for indulging in fear, for why should he be troubled when he has with him his God in whom he should confide? This example of the content of these prayers are a preparation of the unworthiness of our own sinfulness before the miracle that we are about to witness, No one who recites these prayers with a attention and devout mind can be overcome with pride since the whole preparation before ascending the steps of the altar (which symbolizes the ascendance to Mount Calvary, that is why is located always in a higher level), is the confession of our own sinfulness with a contrite and humble heart, the psalm makes reference to this journey that the faithful following the priest are about to undertake: “Our God will enable us to journey toward the heavenly Jerusalem in the vast mobile column of his Church, the true liturgical procession, uninterrupted processional march that takes the elect to him. That Holy mountain is in reference to the site of the Temple:”I will enter into the altar of God”. According to the letter to the Hebrews : “ For Jesus hath not entered into the holies made with hands, the patterns of the true: but into Heaven itself that he may appear now into the presence of God for us’. (Heb.9,24). The altar is essential for a sacrifice to take place. The priest kisses the altar several times, because the altar stone is a symbol of Christ it contains the relics of the saints whose blood was shed united with the Passion of Christ. The liturgy of heaven and earth are joined into one. What a mystery is the Holy Mass, if one were to really understand its effects and wonders who would even miss one day of attending Mass! Let us return back to this connection and representation of the earthly sanctuary and Heavenly one Mons. Klaus Gamber points out: “ The concept that the altar here on earth represents the real altar before God’s throne in Heaven, has always determined its position in our Churches and the position of the Priest standing before it : the angel with the golden censer as described in the book of the Apocalypse says: “ there was another angel that came and took his stand at the altar, with a censer of gold; and incense was given him in plenty, so that he could make an offering on the golden altar before the throne, out of the prayers said by all the saints”. (Apoc.8,3). The quotation from the Apocalypse tells us that an angel is standing before the golden altar in Heaven, holding in his hand a golden censer to offer incense together with the prayers of the faithful on earth before God himself. Clearly this notion of the angel with the golden censer standing before the altar is also based on the instructions that God gave to Moses (Exodus 30,1-8). All the details for the construction of the Temple and the design of the sanctuary itself came from the hands of God himself who dictated very minute and detailed planning for the building of the sanctuary. The Temple of Jerusalem, The Holy Mountain, the dwelling place of God on earth to such a mystery of grace and majesty also should be our internal preparation in all humility and contrition for our sins. During the offering at the Mass, the sacrament of the New Testament, the altar becomes the throne of God. Thus, St. John Chrysostom reminds his listeners: “think about who it is that enters here. Start trembling even before you see Him. Because everyone who beholds the (empty) throne of God, his heart is moved as he awaits the King’s entrance”. Ps. 62,3 “with such longing I see you in the sanctuary and behold your power and glory”. The words of the psalmist give us an insight into the state of the faithful in the Old Testament when they entered The Temple in Jerusalem. How much more do we should prepare in order to celebrate the Holy Mysteries with a spirit of contrition? I will confess against myself my injustice; I will confess to Thee, Oh Lord, my infirmity. If this life is so replete with temptations, pains and miseries. How shall I live, does the soul exclaim, and not sin? Yet how shall I sin and still live? (Imitation of Christ). But let us not grow weary of repressing, of fighting our sins we have the Holy Mass in which all of these sentiments are laid down on the altar, the Mass expiates sins, sins are remitted and graces of sanctification are spread throughout the world. Another element of contrition is the Confiteor: “ I will confess…” both priest and people at separated times recite the Confiteor. Firstly, the priest because he is the one who is offering the sacrifice, it is necessary for the priest to remind himself constantly of his sinfulness and his proclivity to evil so that he will be motivated to root the sin out of his life and also necessary for the priest to do this so that he recognizes his unworthiness to offer the sacrifice and the need to strive for holiness and purity in his life: “Wherefore St. John Chrysostom states: ‘ the consecrated priest ought to be as pure as If he were standing in the Heavens themselves.” For when thou seest the Lord sacrificed, and laid upon the altar, and the priest standing and praying over the victim and all the worshippers empurpled with that precious blood, can you think that thou art still amongst men and standing upon the earth? The confession of sins bowing and striking the breast three times. This gesture, is indicative of sorrow and is made in imitation of the Publican mentioned in the Gospel who struck the breast saying: “Oh, God, be merciful to me a sinner”. St. Luke 18,13. In the Old Testament, before the High Priest offered sacrifice he was directed to ‘ confess all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their offenses and sins”. (Leviticus 16,21). Throughout the Mass, the prayers remind us that we are sinners: In the first epistle of Saint John is very clear on this point :” If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”. If we confess ours sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse is from all iniquity. It is then in the mass at many different times that we are reminded that we are sinners in the different prayers that implore God’s grace and mercy towards us. One virtue that we must seek which is highly recommended is this interior contrition, meaning that by that not the enumeration of any specific number of sins but that habitual contrition which consists in having our sins always before us: ‘”My sin is always before me”(psalm 50,5). This continual regret for sins committed , this interior attitude in reaction to the state of being a sinner which is ours, obviously separates us from sin. (Dom Marmion). We need to imitate the publican and not the Pharisee, Abel and not Cain; pride is opposed to humility and consequently contrition for our sins, since the one who is proud deceives himself and finds no sin in his soul. God did not have regard for Cain’s offering. Do not think that is to humiliate us that the Church requires compunction from our part. No it is for our own sanctification and to advance in our spiritual life and true-self knowledge. God accepted the sacrifice of Abel as coming from a heart full of devotion, The first lings and fat, or at the very best; by which he testified , that he acknowledged Go for his first beginning. Sacrifice is due to God alone, for the love of God not our own selfishness interests not as Cain who sacrificed what was good for his commodity. The holy sacrifice of the Mass atones for sin and purifies souls. The prayers of the offertory show this clearly: “Receive, Oh Father Almighty eternal God, this spotless host…for my own countless sins, offenses and negligences…”
This desire for expiation and the remission of sins, the spotless lamb immolated because of our sins; The Savior and redeemer who redeemed us at the cost of His blood”. Try to unite yourselves to the spirit of contrition that we find in the Mass and try to acquire it. This will be for us a continual source of graces of propitiation and thus of supplication for asking God the forgiveness o our faults and the healing of our souls from all the evil tendencies in us and asking Him for the grace to be united to the Holy Trinity. Let us ask for the grace to have contrition to arise after we have fallen and speedily return to our Heavenly Father when we find we gone astray, let us find in the Mass the source of a spirit of compunction and humility much needed for our salvation.

Spiritual conference

this is the first class on a series of spiritual conferences about the Mass this one is about the sign of the Cross. please you are invited to come every Tuesday at 7.00 pm at Saint Anne's Catholic Church
Today we are here to learn about and meditate on the spirituality of the Mass, indeed an inexhaustible treasure a topic that we can approach in different aspects in the spiritual life can be studied from the theological point of view, spiritual or historical. Today our aim is to approach this under the point of view of the spiritual aspect to learn how to make the Mass an integral part of our lives. An encounter with Christ not only personal but also from the Church as a liturgical prayer of the whole mystical body of Christ. How do we start from and the best would be the very beginning of the Mass which is the sign of the Cross.
Original historical sources for the reign of Constantine provide us with four separate accounts for visions seen by Constantine the Holy Roman emperor during 312 AD, the year of his campaign and acceptance of the Christians. The division of the Roman Empire left him with the poorest portion; he was in trouble, meantime the Christians endured long periods of persecution and tortures with joy receiving martyrdom. Perhaps what came through to him most clearly at this time was that the Christian God was strong. The threatening moves by Maxentious reached him, Constantine called his officers into a Council of war to discuss the prospects for success of a march on Italy. Their response was unfavorable, overwhelmingly; there was no immediately prospect of military help and lack of military resources. What to do? He faced death as well as the early Christians suffered. 1-Constantine and his army on the march in Gaul that year saw a cross in the sky in front of the sun with the words “in Hoc signo vinces” under this sign you shall conquer., whereupon Constantine ordered a golden and jeweled cross made a top it the Labarum (bearing the Greek letters Chris and Rho, the first two letters of Christ in greek superimposed as a standard for his army an account which the holy historian first Christian historian Eusebious emphasizes that it was given to him personally by Constantine on oath. 2-the almost immediately contemporary account of the rethorician Lactantious a Christian convert, in his “On the death of the persecutors” of a dream of Constantine on the night immediately preceding his decisive battle with Maxentious in Italy, in which he was told to place on the shield of his soldiers to place the labarum, and in this sign you shall be the victor. Little noticed passages in pagan panegyrics to Constantine delivered in 313 and in 322 ad, the second being on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the decisive battle referring to remarkable visions seen in the sky in Gaul by Constantine just before his invasion in Italy, and widely known to his troops, showing that: “there was a secret divine power working within him”. Though no cross is mentioned, but rather apparitions of celestial armies; The confirmation is found in the appearance of the words in hoc signo vinces on the graffiti wall adjoining the original red-wall monument over the grave of Saint Peter which was marked by Christian pilgrims during the years from 312 to 330, before Eusebius “Life of Constantine” had been published. Assuming the reality of Constantine’s vision of the Cross in the sky and that he saw it while still in Gaul in the spring of 312, we are well prepared to understand his sudden transformation from doubt to absolute certainty. The Cross is that weapon that we have to fight against our enemies as well as Emperor Constantine did fight Maxentius the dreadful tyrant who was in possession of the capital of the world. The heavenly sign, resplendent with gold and precious stones dazzles the eyes of his legions and becomes the celebrated Labarum, wherever this sacred emblem ensign appears, confidence animates the soldiers of Constantine and terror seizes those of Maxentius. The roman eagle fly before the Cross paganism before Christianity. Constantine enters into Rome, A statue is erected representing him holding the Cross in his hand, with the following inscription dictated by himself” It is by this salutary sign, the true emblem of strength, that I have delivered your city from the yoke of tyranny, and that, giving liberty to the senate and roman people, I have re-established then in their ancient majesty and splendor”. Constantine represents you, me every single baptized soul, the whole Christian world. Thrown into the arena of life, we march at the head of our senses and faculties to attack a tyrant far more dangerous than Maxentius. Our Rome is Heaven; he tries to prevent our entrance into it. He advances against us at the head of his infernal legions. The combat is inevitable. God gives us the means to conquer that he gave to Constantine. The sign of the Cross…
In the presence of the crucifix, the sign of the Cross is a reminder of Our Lord’s passion, with the sign of the cross we start the Mass, the priest invested with the authority that belongs to the priesthood, he says, in union with Jesus Christ who is the principal one that offers that sacrifice, with the same words that Our Lord taught in the Gospel; thus declaring that he offers the sacrifice by the authority of the Three Persons. The saints prayed or heard Mass with the utmost devotion from the very beginning never to do the sign of the cross in an unfitting manner. St. Phillip de Neri, Apostle of Rome, no sooner did he begin to put on the sacred vestments than the beauty, the goodness, the holiness of the Divine Victim he was about to offer presented themselves most vividly to his mind and heart. In the presence of the Crucifix says Saint Thomas More, the priest says his mass, and offers up the highest prayer which the church can devise for the salvation of the quick and the dead, he holds up his hands, he bows down, he kneels, and all the worship he can do he does-more than all, he offers up the highest sacrifice and the best offering that any heart can devise-that is Christ the Son of the God of heaven, under the form of bread and wine. Blessed Thomas More, martyr, and his extraordinary devotion to the passion of the Lord, it was his custom to attend mass every day. Once, when he was the King’s chancellor, messengers from the King came to fetch him while he was hearing Mass. But Sir Thomas would not stir till Mass was finished, not even when a second messenger came and a third, “ I will first perform my duty to be a better man than the King”, he said. And the king Henry VIII when he was still a good catholic was pleased to hear that. In the catacombs where the early Christians assembled in tims of persecution and where they buried their dead you can see to this day the signs of the devotion to the Holy Cross, ancient crosses found in the catacombs indicate various conceptions of the early Christians. The Roman Cross, which is a transverse beam crossing a perpendicular one at a distance from the top. According to tradition this was the form of the Savior Cross, the Greek cross, has four arms of equal length. Nothing shows better how the Christian feeling leads truly to contemplate our Lord’s sufferings and death. Christians owe it to Christ to love His Cross. We see how the early Christians loved it, marked it on their monuments, keep it close to their hearts during persecution, long before it came into public use at the time of Constantine. Do we trust in the Cross and make it often the sign, and with devotion? In olden days people used to do that much more often. They used the sign of the Cross to show that what they did was for God’s sake; when they lighted a candle, it honored Christ as the Light of the World; whern they rose from bed; when they left the house to go to work; when they wrote letters, they put a cross on the top of the page. Many times did they bless themselves as an act very pleasing to God. The sign of the cross is to be made reverently and carefully during Mass. Hearing Mass is the biggest most important thing that you can do. Everywhere in the Mass the Cross is used. Not only in the beginning of the Mass, but throughout the sacrifice the priest makes the sign of the cross 1: for himself;2: over the book;3: upon the oblations(water and the wine);4: over the precious body and blood of Our Lord;5:with the Host when giving communion;6: lastly over the congregation at the last blessing. But most frequently does he make the sign of the cross after the Canon of the Mass has begun. This use of the sign of the cross is not a blessing especially after the sacred species are present on the altar. This use of the sign of the cross is a reminder that Our Lord is with us in the Mass which is Calvary all over again. Since the Mass is the mystical Calvary we must never lose sight of the importance of the Cross, even since the sacrifices of the Old Testament, the priest first raised the Victim in the manner prescribed by the Law. He then carried it from east to west, as we learn from the Jews themselves; thus made the sign of the Cross. It was by the same motion that the High priest and even the simple priests blessed the people after the sacrifice. What does Salomon do? He prays, by making the Sign of the Cross. “And Solomon,” says the sacred text: stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward Heaven, and said:” Lord God of Israel there is no God like thee in Heaven above and on earth beneath”. The sign of the serpent in the desert was a figure of Himself. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may find life everlasting. St. John 3,15. Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote about this particular subject referring to the tracing of the sign of the Cross over the oblate gifts at Mass. Is the priest blessing the consecrated species? What then is the purpose of that action? The recitation of the canon of the Mass is singled out by the signs of the cross that the priest makes, traces over the offerings. The sign of the cross it is an effect of the most important elements and without any doubt one of the most ancients of the Eucharistic action. The sacramentaries, the Gelasian, ancient one of the seventh and eight centuries indicates the four signs of the cross traced over the beginning of the canon and also other manuscripts of the twelve centuries witness all of these signs of the cross. They have not only a value for blessing or consecrating but only for commemorating the power of the cross and the manner in which Christ has ascended to His passion. It designates the Holy Victim ; the priest in the celebration of the Mass practices the signs of the Cross in order to remember, evoking the passion of Christ. And it is for this reason that the acceptance of the sacrifice and the fruit of it has its origin, in the power of the Cross. And it is for this that each time that we make mentions of these things; the priest makes the sign of the Cross. Historically we learn the example of Saint Benedict patron of the monastic life of the western civilization, the patrimony of European culture we see that the power of the Cross when proud monks became jealous of Benedict influence and exemplar sanctity and pursued to poison him. They mixed poison in the wine, and filled a glass with it, which thy presented to him, that he might bless it, according to the custom of the monastery. Benedic stretched forth his hand , made the sign of the Cross and by this sacred Sign, as by the blow of a stone, the poisoned glass was shattered into fragments. The saint understood that they had presented him the cup of death, from which, he had been preserved by the Sign of the Cross. The combat is inevitable, we are thrown into the arena not of the lions of the Martyrs but into the arena of a time of apostasy however what a powerful sign is the Cross! For us dear faithful as we could read regarding the last Gospel reading last Sundays, we learned about the Greatest commandment of the Law to love our neighbor for the sake of God. Now, Our Lord himself gave His life for those He loves, that is to say, for each one of us, the different parts of the Mass correspond to faith, hope and charity: faith in the teaching, hope in the cross. Transubstantiation signifies the cross of Jesus, which is our hope. O Crux ave, spes unica, Oh cross our only hope. There is no greater charity that the fact that Jesus become our food to our souls. What a powerful prayer is then the cross, with how many graces it enriches us, and from how many dangers it preserves our frail existence.

sermon for the eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

This sermon was requested some time ago and finally did conclude it. thank you
Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Today’s Gospel remarks the deaf and dumb man, after being healed by a miracle he spoke right, that this might also be said of each one of us. That we also might speak right, in such a manner as redounds to the honor of God and to our own and our neighbor’s good. But who can recount all the sins that are committed by the tongue. How great will be the number of people lost by the sins of the tongue.
There is a book dated from 1617 the volume entitled “The Horseman’s book: The Art of Riding. This is about treating the use of bridles, whips, guides, and so on. Such a title is of a nature to give rise to sad thoughts. We have learned how to make bits, bridles, halters and pincers, and how to adapt them to a horse’s head or mouth; we have learned the art of directing these animals at will by means of a small bit. But we possess a tongue so ill-tempered that no bridle can curb it: this raging beast resists bits, halters and pincers alike, knocking down every obstacle in its path. It wants to be as free as a horse in the wild. Let us see what Saint James has to say on the subject: “we put bits into horse’s mouths that they may obey us, and we control their whole body also. But no man can tame the tongue. St. John Chrysostom says : “There is no member of the body by which the devil can deceive us so frequently and so easily by an unbridled tongue and an unguarded mouth”. Ecclss.28, 22: “Many have fallen away by the edge of the sword; but no so many have perished by their own tongue”.
We have all like the deaf and the dumb man strive to speak right. Saint Basil wanders why do we have only one tongue? Thereby God teaches us how sparingly we should use the tongue. We must speak no more than what is necessary for by seeing, hearing, and touching, one cannot sin so easily as by speaking something scandalous and indecent”.
As St. James points out: “indeed a little member, and boasted great things. The tongue is placed among our members, which defiles the whole body.
“By your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned”. Saint James says: “If any man offends not in word, the same is a perfect man”. How much careful we should be regarding the use of the tongue!!
There are many species of this kind of sin that is to say, many types of ways in which we can commit this sin.
-Vain words.
-Uncharitable words.
- Immodest words.
Vain words useless words: as we read in St. Matthew 12, 36: “every idle word that men shall speak they shall render an account for it on the day of judgment.”
We sin on this topic when we are destitute of a good intention we have pleasure in hearing ourselves talk. We should think about spending more time praying or occupying ourselves in something better rather than uttering vain words, idle talking. There are those who experience pleasure in hearing themselves talk the vice called loquaciousness.
Another one is boasting whereby a man enjoys talking about his personal affairs, own cleverness and knowledge, money, possessions, projects etc… As the book of proverbs points out: “let another praise you and not your own mouth”.
Spirit of mockery: it causes laughter at the expense of our neighbor, not laughing with him but laughing at him. Does not have respect for the person, as Christians to have the seriousness of a man and not to be a child. Oftentimes young people commit this sin.
Probably the one fault that causes to be the most grievous and malicious is that against our neighbor that sins against charity. Calumny is a sin against charity-justice and truth-since it ruins the good name and the reputation of another what is said or imputed is not true.
Whispering and tale bearing-cause another to fight, plant a seed of discord, telling a person what evil things someone else has done.
Insults: taunting others which are to their shame. Thus it is an insult to cast up to another his low extraction, illegitimate birth, bodily defects or deformities, corporal or spiritual defects, insulting people usually end up in quarrels. Giving nicknames can also be offensive or pejorative also pocking on others people’s defects as well.
The tongue being below the eyes is a lesson to all of us. 1-not to speak about anything that we have not seen ourselves, not to believe every rumor you hear but suspend your judgment until you have found out the truth. Speak of the fault of others only when you can prevent evil or do some good.
Must love God above all things this is the greatest commandment. Talk to people with a supernatural intention do we talk about God? There are some good tools to prevent us from falling into this vices the first one is that we speak about something when is truth, good and necessary. Let us keep in mind what Saint Frances of Sales used to say: “I wish I could have two buttons on both lips, which I should be obliged to unfasten when I had an occasion to speak, for I should then gain more time to reflect, and to consider my speech”. Consider Saint James chapter 3: “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. Does not a single word cause oftentimes bitter feelings, Does not a single word rob a man of his honor and good name? Let us have the love of God in our words: “The Savior in the way to Emmaus inflamed the hearts of the disciples by his discourses. “were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke in the way, and opened to us the scriptures? From our hearts to our words we should show the love of God and our neighbor. Let us be swift to hear but slow to speak and ask Our Lord that our discourses should be warmed by the love of God and our neighbor.

Sermon for the Fourteenth after Pentecost

Noten que aquí hago referencia a la Encíclica del Santo Padre Benedicto Caritas in Veritate.
Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
On this Sunday, The Church emphasizes the need to grow in the love of God and our neighbor. Our faith is founded upon the two-fold precept of love of God and our neighbor. It is fitting therefore to consider what is the virtue of charity truly is and its importance.
First of all, the Holy Father Benedict XVI has emphasized the importance of this virtue by writing two encyc licals on the matter, God is love, charity from the Latin “Deus caritas est “and “Caritas in veritate”, charity in truth. Both papal writings emphasize the need for charity to our neighbor and society.
Saint Paul and the whole message of the Gospel is that of the new commandment: “By this shall men know that you are my disciples If you have love for one another”. That is the doctrine of Saint Paul: “For all the law is fulfilled in one sentence: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”. Kindness of heart, generosity, self-forgetfulness, done to be like Jesus is the beginning and the end of our holy faith.
But the fruit of the Spirit is charity’ mark these words dear faithful, because here are described the effects of our holy faith as far as the practical effects are concerned. We need to see the example of Jesus during His public ministry, the example of the Blessed mother and the Saints; Jesus Christ bore witness by His earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection. From the example of the scriptures: “The charity of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world that we may live by Him”.
The Holy Father reminds us in his letter that charity is first and most of all founded upon God, Caritas says the Pope, “it is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth”. And also from his previous encyclical when he mentioned that: “everything has its origin in God’s love, everything is shaped by it everything is directed towards it”.
Under this perspective of charity we change our view of things; the new papal writing addresses the need for a vision of man in a Christian perspective to see the other not with our own eyes but with the eyes of Jesus. Real progress in society may shine forth only if it is guided under a spirit of truth and charity. Without God man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is. True development of a nation can take place when governments see that the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity.
Another consideration that springs forth from charity is the concept of the common good, which teaches us that besides the good of the individual, there is a good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the good of all of us, made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society. To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity. The more we strive, Benedict continues, to secure a common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbors, the more effectively we love them. Every Christian is called to practice this charity, in a manner corresponding to his vocation. Material growth, or a process of development to technology alone are views opposed to the understanding that a person has to be seen in its integrity and has been raised to a spiritual creature with values and holiness with a dignity as a creature of God.
The fully meaning of development that the Church proposes is that in which the family has its primary place as the foundation of Society, fraternal Charity obliges us a precept of love to be concerned with the unborn, the most innocent creatures who are in danger of loosing their lives or any other form in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized.
Openness to life is at the center of true development only when man sees the dignity of a person as someone to be loved for the sake of God a spiritual view that is not superficial, rather it sees man as God’s creature someone who has been endowed with an immortal soul and who has always loved.
This love of neighbor is thus shown possible in the way proclaimed in the Scriptures by Jesus. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an encounter with god, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings. Then I can learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. In other words, supernatural charity is loving the image of God that we see in our neighbor. St. Thomas Aquinas points out that we don not love our enemy insofar as he is an enemy, for that is contrary to the nature of reason and regardless of how evil our enemy is, he has been created in the image and likeness of God and we therefore are bound to wish the salvation of his soul. While on earth, we ought to love our enemies in this life because they have the possibility of being saved. Finally, true charity, as the name of Benedict’s work indicates is truth and not opposed to it. To use Saint Paul, epistle, “Charity rejoices in the truth”. (I Corinthians 13,6), we are mistaken If we believe that we are being charitable to others by compromising the truth, and we must remember that our Christian duty requires “to love the sinner and hate the sin, which on occasion requires to correct our neighbor”. To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction, and to bear witness to it in life are therefore exacting and indispensable forms of charity.
In the words of Saint Paul to the Romans: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor”. Let us be open to God in our lives aware of our calling to walk in the truth and enkindle the darkness of indifference, materialism and selfishness with the Light of Christ.

Sermones

perdon por el gran retraso les debo los sermones pasados. my apologies for the delay I Bring here all the sermons from the lasts Sundays after Pentecost.
Sermon on Humility 16th Sunday after Pentecost
“God rejects the proud and exalts the Humble”. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen…

Dear faithful in Christ, Humility is shown in this particular Gospel passage, this virtue is difficult to attain easy to say and we see in the liturgy the texts of Saint Paul and Gospels of these Sundays after Pentecost the need of Charity that union with God and the fulfillment of the commandment which is the love of our neighbor for the sake of God. We see the importance in the spiritual life of the virtue of humility which is necessary for salvation, our calling to sanctity is our mission here on earth, that is to say to follow the commandments of God and therefore to be with Him, to follow Jesus we need to be humble in imitation of Him the one who invites us to take the last place in the wedding If we want to enter into his kingdom. We need to open the door to the Wedding feast by humbling ourselves, not by a particular amount of vocal prayers, attachment to a particular rite of Mass, books that we read etc… but rather what Saint Ambrose has to say on this subject: commenting on this Gospel reading “ But above all, it is to the constant attitude and exercise of humility that we must especially direct his attention who would secure a prominent place in the divine feast of the nuptials”. All saints are ambitious for future glory but they are aware that in order to win it they must go low down, during the present life, into their own nothingness .
The first place is not to be sought in the first seats of an earthly wedding ; rather the virtue of humility should be on the first place. Saint Thomas Aquinas says: “ Humility holds the first place inasmuch as it expels pride which God resists”. Hence Saint Gregory asserts that “he who gathers virtues without humility is like the man who carries dust against the wind”. His virtues shall be scattered. This sublime virtue is but little known so many times spoken a lot too but not practiced by us. Pride on the contrary which was the cause of ruin to Adam and his posterity is known by us all and unfortunately is a main obstacle in our lives as Christians. Who came to give us example, the Son of God, who emptied himself taking the form of a servant. Despised, says Isaiah and the most abject of men. Where was he born? In a stable and laid in a manger; in Nazareth, poor , unknown and employed in the humble occupation of assisting a poor artisan. Look at Him at His passion, scourged as a slave, insulted, mocked all the way to Calvary, crowned with thorns as a mock king and at the end suffering the ignominious death of the cross.
We ought to know that the position reserved for us in the kingdom of heaven depends not, in the least, either upon our own thoughts about ourselves or upon the judgment passed on us by other people; it depends solely on the will of God, who exalts the Humble and then he will say to us : “ Friend go up higher”. From the book of Ecclesiasticus: “The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shall find grace before God; for great is the power of God alone, and He is honored by the Humble”. Let us a claim and follow in all things the last place, not with falsity not wanting to make progress in our studies or professional endeavors however to do that solely thinking on the glory of God and not to glory ourselves but in Him whom we have received all that we have. The surest test of our Humility before God is the practical charity for our neighbor, which, in the several circumstances of everyday life, induces us, without affectation, to give him the precedence over ourselves. We should not be disappointed If we are far way behind on this aspect of the spiritual life, since God hears in a special way those who are humble as we read in the psalm :” A contrite and humble heart God shall not despise” (Psalm 50). God makes the waters of his graces abound and manifest in humble souls; If we listen to the words uttered by Our Lady: “Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid…He that is mighty hath done great things to me.” The Lord looking upon my humility and my sense of nothingness, hath bestowed great favor upon me.
The divine invitation is made to all; the nuptials are in Heaven in the Gospel wedding Christ is the Bridegroom and the church is the bride. Let us ask this virtue to Him and recognize as Saint Paul did: “I am what I am By the grace of God”.