Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Catholic Morality in Human Relationship
When married love is lived in its most authentic nature,it is expressed in all life situations, becoming a witness,proclaiming and realizing the Kingdom of God: "It is in married and family love... that the Christian family's participation in the prophetic, priestly and kingly mission of Christ and his Church finds expression and realisation. Therefore, love and life constitute the nucleus of the saving mission of the Christian family in the Church and for the Church"(Familiaris Consortion [FC], 50). The conjugal love of the spouses is fully expressed in fatherhood and motherhood, the fruit of their love, which makes them co-responsible for the gift of life,by protecting , developing, educating and evangelizing : "Christian couples are, for each other, for their children and for their relatives, co-operators of grace and witnesses of the faith. They are the first to pass on the faith to their children and to educate them in it. By word and example they form them to a Christian and Apostolic life"
Thursday, May 7, 2020
What are the essential forms of prayer?
The basic forms of prayer: adoration, petition, atonement, reparation, love, intercession,thanksg,and praise.
Blessings come to us by the grace of the Holy Spirit that descends through Christ from the Father. Because God blesses the human heart, it can return,bless(praise and adore) him who is the sourcof every blessing. Through blessing, our prayer ascends in the Holy throu Christ to the Fath.
Through adoration, we exult the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almi power of the Saviour who sets us free from evil. It is a respectful silence in the presence of the "ever great" God,
By Prayers of petition we express awareness of our relationship with God. We are creatures ever in need of God. We are sinners who have turned away from our Father. Our petition is already a turning back to him. The first movement of the prayer of petition is to ask for forgiveness: "God, be merciful to me asinner" It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer. A trusting humility brings us back into communion with God and our neighbor, so that we receive from God whatever we ask.
In prayer of expiation or contrition, we acknowledge our sinfulness and ask God for his forgiveness and mercy. The Confiteor or Penetincial Rite at the beginning of Mass, and Agnus Dei (or Lamb of God) before Communion,are prayers of expiation,as the Act of Contrition.
A prayer of reparation is one that aims to repair the sins of others and the outrages and many offenses and sacrilege committed against the Holy Trinity and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.A "Holy Hour of Reparation" before the Blessed Sacrament and the Five Saturdays devotion"is an example of this form of prayer/ devotion.
Prayers of love or charity are expressions of our love of God, the source and object of all love. The Act of Charity is perhaps the best example of a prayer of love,
Prayer of intercession consists in asking on behalf of another. In intercession, he who prays looks"not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others," even to the point of praying for those who do him harm. The intercession of Christians recognizes no boundaries: for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, for persecutors and for the salvation of those who reject the Gospel.
Thanksgiving characterized the prayer of the Church. Every joy and Suffering, every event and need can become the matter for thanksgiving which, sharing in that of Christ, should fill one's whole life: "Give thanks in all circumstances"(1 Thess 5:18).
Praise is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for his own sake and gives himglory, quite beyond what he does, but simply because HE IS. By praise, the Spirit is joined to our spirits to bear witness that we are children of God.Praise embraces the other forms of prayer and carries them towards God. The Eucharist contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is "the pure offering"of the whole Body of Christ, it is the "sacrifice of the praise."[See CCC 2623-2649]
Blessings come to us by the grace of the Holy Spirit that descends through Christ from the Father. Because God blesses the human heart, it can return,bless(praise and adore) him who is the sourcof every blessing. Through blessing, our prayer ascends in the Holy throu Christ to the Fath.
Through adoration, we exult the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almi power of the Saviour who sets us free from evil. It is a respectful silence in the presence of the "ever great" God,
By Prayers of petition we express awareness of our relationship with God. We are creatures ever in need of God. We are sinners who have turned away from our Father. Our petition is already a turning back to him. The first movement of the prayer of petition is to ask for forgiveness: "God, be merciful to me asinner" It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer. A trusting humility brings us back into communion with God and our neighbor, so that we receive from God whatever we ask.
In prayer of expiation or contrition, we acknowledge our sinfulness and ask God for his forgiveness and mercy. The Confiteor or Penetincial Rite at the beginning of Mass, and Agnus Dei (or Lamb of God) before Communion,are prayers of expiation,as the Act of Contrition.
A prayer of reparation is one that aims to repair the sins of others and the outrages and many offenses and sacrilege committed against the Holy Trinity and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.A "Holy Hour of Reparation" before the Blessed Sacrament and the Five Saturdays devotion"is an example of this form of prayer/ devotion.
Prayers of love or charity are expressions of our love of God, the source and object of all love. The Act of Charity is perhaps the best example of a prayer of love,
Prayer of intercession consists in asking on behalf of another. In intercession, he who prays looks"not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others," even to the point of praying for those who do him harm. The intercession of Christians recognizes no boundaries: for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, for persecutors and for the salvation of those who reject the Gospel.
Thanksgiving characterized the prayer of the Church. Every joy and Suffering, every event and need can become the matter for thanksgiving which, sharing in that of Christ, should fill one's whole life: "Give thanks in all circumstances"(1 Thess 5:18).
Praise is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for his own sake and gives himglory, quite beyond what he does, but simply because HE IS. By praise, the Spirit is joined to our spirits to bear witness that we are children of God.Praise embraces the other forms of prayer and carries them towards God. The Eucharist contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is "the pure offering"of the whole Body of Christ, it is the "sacrifice of the praise."[See CCC 2623-2649]
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
HOW DOES GOD REVEAL HIMSELF IN THE OLD TESTAMENT?
God shows himself in the > Old Testament as God, who created the world out of love and remains faithful to men even when they have fallen away from him into sin. [54-64, 70-72]
God makes it possible to experience him in history: With Noah he establishes a covenant to save all living things. He calls Abraham so as to make him "the father of a multitude of nations" (Gen 17:5b) and to bless "all the families of the earth" in him ( Gen 12:3b). the people Israel, sprung from Abraham, becomes his special possession. To Moses he introduces himself by name. His mysterious name > YHWH, usually transcribed Yahweh, means "I AM WHO I AM" (Ex 3:14). He frees Israel from slavery in Egypt, establishes a covenant with them on Sinai, and through Moses gives them the Law. Again and again, God sends prophets to his people to call them to conversion and to the renewal of the covenant. The prophets proclaim that God will establish a new and everlasting covenant, which will to bring about a radical renewal and definitive redemption. This covenant will be open to all human beings.
God makes it possible to experience him in history: With Noah he establishes a covenant to save all living things. He calls Abraham so as to make him "the father of a multitude of nations" (Gen 17:5b) and to bless "all the families of the earth" in him ( Gen 12:3b). the people Israel, sprung from Abraham, becomes his special possession. To Moses he introduces himself by name. His mysterious name > YHWH, usually transcribed Yahweh, means "I AM WHO I AM" (Ex 3:14). He frees Israel from slavery in Egypt, establishes a covenant with them on Sinai, and through Moses gives them the Law. Again and again, God sends prophets to his people to call them to conversion and to the renewal of the covenant. The prophets proclaim that God will establish a new and everlasting covenant, which will to bring about a radical renewal and definitive redemption. This covenant will be open to all human beings.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
GOD APPROACHES US MEN
Why did God have to show himself in order for us to be able to know what he is like?
Man can know by reason that God exists,but not what God is really like. Yet because God would very much like to be known, he has revealed himself.[50,68-69]
God did not have to reveal himself to us. But he did it-out of love. Just as in human love one can know something about the beloved person only if he opens his heart to us, so too we know something about God's inmost thoughts only because the eternal and mysterious God has opened himself to us out of love. From creation on, through the patriarchs and the prophets down to the definite > REVELATION in his Son Jesus Christ, God has spoken again and again to mankind. In Him he has poured out his heart to us and made his inmost being.
Why did God have to show himself in order for us to be able to know what he is like?
Man can know by reason that God exists,but not what God is really like. Yet because God would very much like to be known, he has revealed himself.[50,68-69]
God did not have to reveal himself to us. But he did it-out of love. Just as in human love one can know something about the beloved person only if he opens his heart to us, so too we know something about God's inmost thoughts only because the eternal and mysterious God has opened himself to us out of love. From creation on, through the patriarchs and the prophets down to the definite > REVELATION in his Son Jesus Christ, God has spoken again and again to mankind. In Him he has poured out his heart to us and made his inmost being.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Why do people deny that God exists, if they can know him by reason?Can we grasp God at all in concepts?Can we grasp God at all in concepts? Is it possible to speak about him meaningfully?
To
know the invisible God is a great challenge for the human mind. Many are
scared off by it. Another reason why some do not want to know God is
because they would then have to change their life. Anyone who says that
the question about God is meaningless because it cannot be answered is
making things too easy for himself.
Although
we men are limited and the infinite greatness of God never fits into
finite human concepts, we can nevertheless speak rightly about God.
In
order to express something about God, we use imperfect images and
limited notions. And so everything we say about God is subject to the
reservation that our language is not equal to God's greatness. Therefore
we must constantly purify and improve our speech about God.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Can we Really know that God exists?
Yes.
Human reason can know God with certainty. The world cannot have its
origin and its destination within itself. In everything that exists,
there is more than we see. The order, the beauty, and the development of
the world point beyond themselves toward God. Every man is receptive to
what is true, good, and beautiful. He hears within himself the voice of
conscience, which urges him to what is good and warns him against what
is evil. Anyone who follows this path reasonably finds God. (YOUCAT
question 4)
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