This Lenten and Holy Week meditation on Psalm 45 and the contemplation of beauty represents a message that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) sent to a meeting of the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation in August 2002. The group was meeting in...
The infinite mercy and goodness of God are revealed in the parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep, & the Good Samaritan. St. Maximus the Confessor says these prove that Jesus Christ goes to any lengths to seek us out when we have...
Sr. Faustina Kowalska and Devotion to Divine Mercy A sermon by Pope John Paul II Sr. Faustina Kowalska was a Polish nun who propagated devotion to the Divine Mercy in the form of a devotion known as the Divine Mercy Chaplet. This sermon was given by Pope John...
This reflection on baptism as illumination or enlightenment was written by St. Justin Martyr around 155AD in Rome and reflects the liturgical practices of not only the Church in that city, but most probably the practice of the Church in Ephesus and Palestine as well,...
Here St. Fulgentius of Ruspe shows how all the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were merely signs foreshadowing the ultimate sacrifice, the only sacrifice that could take away all sin and reconcile the human race with God, the self-offering of the Lord Jesus Christ...
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='75' color='' background_color='' border_color='']"T[/dropcaps] he justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ” (cf. Rm 3, 21-22) Dear Brothers and Sisters! Each year, on the occasion of Lent, the Church invites us to a sincere review of our life in light of...
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']"J[/dropcaps] esus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity" (Matthew 9:36) Dear Brothers and Sisters! Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Him Who is the fount of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which He...
Here St. Basil asks if boasting is ever appropriate and answers yes -- we are to boast only of the Jesus Christ crucified, finding our righteousness in Jesus. In his cross, human pride is laid low....