IMMACOLATA CONCEZIONE DI MARIA

La liturgia romana celebra nel tempo di Avvento la solennità dell’Immacolata concezione della Beata Vergine Maria. Questa solennità indica una preparazione fondamentale per l’attesa della venuta del Salvatore del mondo sia messianica sia ritorno glorioso dello stesso Cristo. La solennità dell’Immacolata Concezione di Maria si bassa sul fatto che Maria è tutta santa ed è conservata «da ogni macchia di peccato, quasi plasmata dallo Spirito Santo e resa nuova creatura»[1]. Ecco, perché si è profeticamente detto che concepirà e partorirà un figlio di nome «Emmanuele»[2](Mt 1,23).

L’Immacolata concezione di Maria si è definito da Pio IX in dicembre 1854 con la bolla ineffabilis Deus come «la dottrina che sostiene che la beatissima Vergine Maria nel primo istante della sua concezione, per singolare grazia e privilegio di Dio onnipotente, in vista dei meriti di Gesù Cristo Salvatore del genere umano, è stata preservata immune da ogni macchia di peccato originale, è stata rivelata da Dio e perciò si deve credere fermamente e inviolabilmente da tutti i fedeli»: 

«Ad onore della santa ed indivisa Trinità, a decoro ed ornamento della Vergine madre di Dio, ad esaltazione della fede cattolica e ad aumento della religione Cristiana, con autorità di nostro Signore Gesù Cristo dei beati apostoli Pietro e Paolo e nostra, noi dichiariamo, proclamiamo e definiamo: che la dottrina secondo la quale la beatissima Vergine Maria, nel primo istante del suo concepimento, fu preservata incolume da ogni  macchia di peccato originale, a motivo di ogni specialissimo privilegio di grazia dell’onnipotente Dio, in vista dei meriti di Gesù Cristo, il salvatore del genere umano, è creduta da tutti i fedeli»[3](DS 2803).

BUONA FESTA!!!

---

[1]CONCILIO ECUMENICO VATICANO II, Costituzione dogmatica de Ecclesia Lumen Gentium (21 novembre 1964), in AAS 57 (1965), 5-71, no. 56

[2] Secondo Catholic Dictionary p291, questa è una parola ebraica che significa Dio è con noi<<God is with us>> secondo (Is. 7,14) mentre nel vangelo di Matteo 1,23 è un nome dato a Gesù che significa tradizionalmente che Gesù ha avuto una nascita verginale.

[3] NDM Nuovo Dizionario di Mariologia, Cinisello Balsamo 1985, 487-488.

THE FRUITS OF LIVING IN COMMUNION

Sometime ago, we did talk about the importance of living in communion with our churches or our comunities. Let us now turn our focus on what our comunities give to us and what we give to them in response. Riflecting on this issue of being in comunion with our comunities, let us chiefly ask ourselves these two questions: What do we receive from our comunities and what do we give to them?

Surely we have to receive from them a certain kind of formation. Yes, on the level of priorities we receive the human and spiritual formations which are indeed fundamental in our lives. These two kinds of formation -if integrated well in a certain comunity- can produce men and women of tomorrow; people responsible for their lives and the whole human race. We are talking about the fact that the comunity in its real communal sense, has to give to its own members an integral formation and the members have to dispose themselves wholeheartetly to this kind of formation.

Therefore, having received this formation from the comunity, it becomes easy for the members to understand and to live the Gospel -the christian life. The life that establishes itself in the self-giving of its members and  also for the edification of their comunity and the whole human race. It is evident that there is reciprocal aspect in this case, and this advocates for continuous formation and update. In order to achieve this, there is a need for openness, new methods as well as to critisism.

By: K. Albert and M. Lawrence

Please be inspired too!!!

I cannot fail to share this with you. These words may find you totally “out of your mind”, that is, not in a real sense of the saying, but, I mean losing the sense of life. Read and you will see a difference in your life. Know that you are a social being and life is like a rainbow, full of many colors. Be able to distinguish each and every color and appreciate that color as it appears to you. Be blessed and live the Gospel.

“Believe in yourself”

“Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they are meant to be there.

They are there to serve some purpose, teach you a lesson or help you to figure out who you are, to help you figure out who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be, but when you lock eyes with them, you know that at every moment they will affect your life in some profound way.

And sometimes things happen to you, and sometimes they seem bother, painful and unfair. You realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would never have realized your potential, your strength your will power or your heart.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury love, last moments of true greatness………without these small tests life would be like a smoothly pave, straight flat road to nowhere. Save and uncomfortable …………. The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from, in fact they are probably the lost emotional and important ones. If someone hurts you betrays or breaks your heart you forgive them…..because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being conscious about whom you open your heart to. If someone loves you, love them back, unconditionally not only because they are loving you but because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things.

Make everyday count. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people you may never talked to before and actually listen, let yourself fall in love…………

Tell yourself you are a great individual, and believe in yourself, for if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you.” By Laura Burns

This post is meant to uplift you.

The New Evangelization in the secularized world

Living in this secularized world  gives headache to a Christian because he/she knows that he/she has received the great mandate -"Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28, 19)- from the Lord, that is, he/she knows that he has this mission to fullfil in this world. In his Apostolic Exortation Christifideles Laici, Pope John Paul II shows the gravity of the problem of secularization -in which many people have lost the sense of religion- as he says that it is really a "grave fenomenon", and for this reason, the Pope makes a call for a new evangelization as it is evident in Evangelii Nuntiadi e Redemptoris Missio.
My question to you: Are ready to confront this situation? Are you ready to engage yourself to the new evagelization?
Please leave a comment.

Living in communion

Taking into consideration communion as institution, we can see that it is something instituted by Christ. Do you live in communion? If so,what kind of communion do you live? Are you in communion with your church or your community? Do you know that community is at the center of communion?  Taking a walk with one of my friends this afternoon, we discussed the value of living in commuion particulaly communion with the church. He told me: Once upon a time, one priest had a friend and the friend invited him to his house. As they were sitting chatting, the priest asked: but my friend why is it that you don't go to church? No, father i think i don't need to; the young man responded. And he added; i worship God in my house. The priest then said: let us take one piece of wood and make fire, they did take the piece of wood and tried to make fire but it was impossible to make a good fire. The priest said: no, let us take some more pieces of wood. They took some more pieces of wood, put them together and made fire at a fire place. The fire was good that the whole house was filled with heat. My dear brothers and sisters are you aware of the importance of living in communion? We are called by God to participate in His communion of Love to make and live in the community of Love, Remember that man is not an island and unity is the power. Insieme cela facciamo corragio!!! 

God bless and keep you in the shadow of his wings.

ANNUNCIAZIONE DEL SIGNORE Cliccare qui - Clic here!!!

Mentre stiamo camminando sulla via della penitenza verso la Pasqua del Signore, prossimo venerdì celebreremo la solenità dell'Annunciazione. Proviamo ora di capirla in anticipo:

Nella solennità dell’Annunciazione del Signore- celebrata il 25, Marzo- Papa Paulo VI sottoliniò nella sua Esortazione Apostolica Marialis Cultus il fatto che era stata chiamata solennità dell’incarnazione del Verbo ma c’è stata la ripristinazione dell’antica denominazione di annunciazione del Signore e cosi appare nel calendario romano. La celebrazione è collegata a Cristo e la Vergine. Si concentra sul fatto del Verbo che si è fatto uomo «Figlio di Maria (Mc 6,3)», e in questo caso Maria diventa la Madre di Dio. Si celebra questa solennità «come memoria del fiat  Salvifico del Verbo incarnato» secondo le parole nella lettera agli Ebrei 10,7 e salmo 38, 8-9[1].

Nell’attesa della venuta del Signore (Avvento) la liturgia fa quotidianamente un ricordo dell’annuncio dell’angelo Gabriele a Maria . Evidentemente questo ricordo si vede a l’ora sesta nel antifona e nella «compieta, antifona finale della Beata Vergine Maria»[2]. La celebrazione si fa in relazione a Cristo sia in Oriente ossia nell’Occidente secondo le loro liturgie. Per di più, si celebra l’inizio «della redenzione natura divina indissolubile e sponsale unione della natura divina con la natura umana nell’unica persona del Verbo»[3]. Il Verbo incarnato «è la sorgente della rinnovazione dell’uomo»[4]. Per questo, Paolo VI mostra l’aspetto relazionale di Maria con questa solennità: Maria chiamata «nuova Eva, Vergine obbediente e fedele, che con il suo fiat generoso (Lc 1,38) divenne, per l’opera dello Spirito, Madre di Dio, Ma anche vera madre dei viventi». Maria viene ancora considerata come l’Arca dell’alleanza e vero Tempio di Dio per sua accoglienza del Mediatore nel suo grembo[5].

---

[1] PAOLO VI, Esortazione Apostolica, Marialis Cultus (2 febbraio 1974) in AAS 66 (1974) pg. 113-168.

[2] Messe della beata Vergine Maria, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, 1987, 6.

[3] PAOLO VI, Esortazione Apostolica, Marialis Cultus (2 febbraio 1974) in AAS 66 (1974) 113-168.

[4] Messe della beata Vergine Maria, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, 1987, 6.

[5] PAOLO VI, Esortazione Apostolica,  Marialis Cultus (2 febbraio 1974) in AAS 66 (1974) pg. 113-168.

BUONA FESTA E DIO VI BENEDICA

LENTEN APPETIZER: A CALL TO PENANCE

As we are about to begin the Lenten journey, let us have this appertizer for our mind and heart: This is the time in which we are called by God to penance and reconciliation with Him. We are invited to prepare ourselves to get into a very deep contemplation, as  Pope Benedict XVI in his Lenten message says:  "we are invited to contemplate the Mystery of the Cross" which is according to the Pope, "meant to reproduce within us 'the pattern of his (Christ's) death' (Ph 3: 10), so as to effect a deep conversion in our lives; that we may be transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit".

Somebody told a story that; once upon a time, one cook decided to carry out an experiment of cooking an egg and a carrot. We know well that carrot is hard and egg is liquid before they can be cooked. This man did put them both in the same pot. Understand that the two are going  go under the same temperature. Then the two were cooked and after some time, were taken out of the pot. The cook found that an egg has turned hard whereas the carrot soft.

By the way, we are invited to enter the Lenten time sinful as we are, and pass under a very hot temperature, the temperature that does not destroy or make hard but the temperature that softens, the temperature that restores our human dignity lost in sin. By the temperature, we refer in this case to the Word of God which purifies one from sin. The Word of God does not harden our hearts but it has power to soften them. With our entering into contemplation of the Mystery of the Cross in the Word of God, we shall be converted to God and be purified of our hearts in order to live as children of God. Therefore, the fruits of our contemplation have to be realized in almsgiving, frequenting the sacrament of reconciliation, and all other good deeds in our lives.

Have yourselves a good Lenten journey

GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU

FOR OUR WEEKLY REFLECTION: HAPPINESS (On the blog)

Let us begin to reflect together and share that which is on our mind in relation to a given question or idea for our weekly reflection:

Concluding his reflection on happiness, one Indian author says: "The true happiness cannot  be found outside of one's self. Looking for it outside is like following a rainbow in the middle of the clouds".

What's your take???

A CALL TO LOVE

 We are really inspirated by the pilgrimage that we have taken to Norcia and Cascia. Our meditation was based on the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 13, 1-13 (hymn to Love). Being in these two places has been a blessing to us because it helped us to contemplate the Love of God through the lives of St. Benedict -and his sister: St. Scholastic- and St. Rita. These are really the flowers of heaven which decorate humanity. With their beauty and fragrance, these flowers are intented by God to call human beings to attention. Attention to the Love of God, to know that God is the Creator of all things (Gen. 1.1ff), and to know God as Love Himself. This is the goal of our human life. We are called to search for God and live in Him for the rest of our lives as these saints Did.

 Oneday somebody told me: one journalist in U.S.A. asked one bishop a question; "your lordship, i heard you talk about hell, and where is this hell?". Giving a response to his question, the bishop said: "the hell is in the heart of someone who doesn't love". By the same token, we are not created by God to live in the hell but to have our hearts full of His Love. We are called to live  in the glory of the Kingdom of God which is already but not yet.

GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU IN HIS PRECIOUS LOVE

CHE GIOIA

Condivido con voi questa gioia che abbiamo visuto il giorno 5/02/2011 in cui è stato ordinato vescovo Mons. Savio Hon il nuovo secretario di Propaganda Fide. We thank whole heartedly God almighty for Mons. Savio. God bless and keep him in his mission to the world.

LA BEATA VERGINE MARIA NEI SANTI MISTERI DI CRISTO

Cominciamo a fare un cammino Mariano, capendo alcune feste e le memorie mariane nei Santi Misteri di Cristo nell'anno liturgico. Prossima settimana celebreremo la presentazione del Signore nel tempio. Che cosa possiamo dire della Madonna in questa celebrazione?

 PRESENTAZIONE DEL SIGNORE NEL TEMPIO

Questa è una memoria «congiunta del figlio e della madre», si celebra un mistero di salvezza in cui Cristo operatore e sua madre unita con il Figlio fu la madre del Servo sofferente di Iavhé. In collegamento con Cristo Signore, si celebra in questa memoria ancora il fatto che sua madre la beata Vergine Maria ebbe nella sua presentazione al tempio (Lc 2,27-35). La celebrazione prende il posto «nel sabato o nelle ferie che precedono immediatamente il 2 febbraio». Secondo il prefazio della celebrazione si saluta Santa Maria come «Figlia di Sion»[1]. Secondo la legge di Mosè in (Lc 12,1-8), il Signore fu portata «al tempio per il rito della purificazione prescritto alle puerpere, sebbene, “Vergine purissima, sempre intatta nella sua verginità” avesse generato “il Figlio del eterno Padre (antifona d’ingresso)”». Attraverso la memoria della profezia di Simeone, si celebra anche l’associazione della beata Vergine al suo Figlio nell’opera della salvezza. E qui la beata Vergine si è onorata come modello della Vergine Chiesa[2].

Buon Cammino !!!

---

[1]  Per sua storia nel Antico Testamento, Sion --cf.2Sam 5,6-9, si è diventato «un simbolo per Gerusalemme per il popolo intero che trova lì il suo centro ……..». Per questo « Sion viene descritta con l’immagine della madre, piena di gioia che partorisce senza dolori» M. Hauke, Introduzione alla Mariologia 38.

[2] Messe della beata Vergine Maria, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, 1987, 6

LIVING THE GOSPEL

http://www.lawrencematona.blogspot.com/

CHE BELLO ERA!!!

Noi nel collegio Urbano, abbiamo cominciato così il Santo Natale. E tu?
è stata bellisima la serata culturale che abbiamo passato, celebrando insieme come famiglia.